Brotherly Life
by AnnaLangdon
Summary: Ray and Emily continue their lives as brother and sister. Sequel to Brotherly Love! [RayNeela]
1. Chapter 1

Brotherly Life

Brotherly Love (and life) continues!

Sixteen-year-old Emily Barnett cautiously pushed open the door to the apartment she shared with her brother Ray. The coast seemed clear. She turned back to face her boyfriend, Brandon.

"Okay, I don't think anyone's home," she said to him, "Let's go in."

They walked into the empty apartment, and Emily quickly checked Ray's room and the bathroom. They were indeed alone.

"Remind me again why we're sneaking around, acting like we're looking for a good place to go have sex?" Brandon asked her when she returned.

"Because I want to make absolutely sure we don't walk in on _Ray and Neela _having sex," she answered matter-of-factly. True, she had never seen them going quite _that_ far, but she had still walked in on her fair share of make-out sessions.

"But aren't they at work?"

"Yeah, well that's where they were supposed to be every time I've walked in on them," Emily answered, shrugging.

"I have to say, you _do_ take this remarkably well, as opposed to being, say, scarred for life!" Brandon said.

"Well, I never said anything about the not-being-scarred-for-life bit."

Scarred or not, however, none of it mattered to Emily right now. The day before she had been officially declared free of mono and all other possible medical ailments. She'd been looking forward to being able to spend some alone time with Brandon and, with a final look around the blissfully quiet room, they were able to do just that.

"Hey."

Brandon's voice very close to her ear made her turn, and when she did she was caught full-on, completely immersed in her lips.

"Maybe I should get sick more often," she murmured with a smile into his mouth.

"Definitely not," he murmured back as they continued.

How long they stood there together, Emily did not know, but the entire situation was so perfect, she couldn't trouble herself to keep track of such petty human details such as time. This ended up being a mistake as the sound of the key turning in the lock caused them to spring apart in a post-make-out haste.

It was Ray home from his shift.

"Hey," he said, seeing them both standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "How's it going…?" he asked, allowing his question to trail off, informing them both that he knew exactly what he'd just interrupted.

"Bran came over after school. We had some things to work on…" Emily answered, trailing her sentence in the same way.

Brandon turned to her, "I thought we talked about the nickname?"

"What? What's wrong with 'Bran'?"

"Minus the whole Raisin Bran/Regularity-with-proper-fiber-intake connotation?"

"Eh, I never said it was an exact science."

Ray took this point to quietly slink away.

"Anyway," Emily continued, "Let's leave it. C'mon," she added, walking toward her room with every intention of continuing what her brother had interrupted.

"Leave that door open!" Ray yelled from somewhere nearby, as though he'd been expecting and waiting for the stop in their playful banter, and knowing what was sure to follow it.

* * *

Once Brandon left, Ray and Emily stood in the kitchen, pouring over menus for the weekly Take-Out Tuesday. 

"Neela coming over tonight?" Emily asked innocently enough.

"Nope, not tonight. Just you and me," he answered. "How 'bout Chinese?"

"Fine by me."

After much haggling involving entrees and sides, they finally worked out their order and were soon sitting down at the counter, chopsticks in hand.

"So you and Bran seem to be hitting it off," Ray commented through his mouthful of lemon chicken.

"Don't let him hear that," Emily said thickly, through her chow mein. She swallowed promptly, "And don't chew with your mouth full!"

"Well listen to you!"

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, waving him off with a string bean.

"Anyway, I'm glad you guys are having fun, but I'm going to have to be the face of authority—" Emily gave a slight groan "—and implement the 'no guys when I'm not home' rule, got it?"

Immediately, many cogs began working rapidly in Emily's brain, weighing her options. Protest? Accept it? Scream and throw a fit? (that hadn't worked when she was six, and she doubted its effectiveness today) "Sure," she mumbled, "Fine, whatever."

"I mean it, Em," he added, with a flicker in his voice that sounded like he could be channeling their mother. Which was plain weird, Emily decided.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That night, Emily lay in bed thinking about the changes that had occurred in her life. She was a pondering type of girl—she had been ever since her mother died. Two years ago, her life had been turned upside down. All of the sympathy and support she had received had been very comforting, but after a while she began to feel like she was suffocating underneath everyone's comfort. The only time she'd had to herself had been when she would lie awake in bed. This was the only time when she didn't have to stay strong. She could break down and let out her _true_ emotions. When she was surrounded by her family and friends, she didn't feel free to cry. She didn't want to be hugged and hushed, and told that everything would be okay. _Every_thing wouldn't be okay; she would grow up without a mother! Therefore she'd resigned herself to reserve sorting through her feelings until she was alone and didn't have to "live up to any image."

Several months after her mom died and she'd moved in with Ray, Emily had been lying awake again. She felt the urge to cry wash over her, and didn't do anything to hide her tears—after all, she was alone. After a few moments' quiet sobbing, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, rocking on her heals. She became aware of another presence, and looked up to see that Ray had appeared in her doorway. He didn't say anything, just joined her on her bed and encased her in his arms and let her cry. It was a wonderful feeling for her, not only to not have to show any restraint with her tears, but to be able to express them with someone going through the _same exact thing she was_. They never spoke of that night, but it was one of the most significant bonding experiences that solidified their changed relationship.

On this night, however, Emily's thoughts were not of loss, but of hope and change. She lay awake, her mind filtering through everything that she would be writing about if she kept a diary. She didn't—she wasn't sure why. She loved to write, but somehow felt vulnerable having her own thoughts staring back up at her. Still, she found that she sometimes couldn't get to bed if she didn't lay everything "out on the table."

_What's going on with Ray's "No guys when I'm not home" rule? This is new. What changed? He knows I'm responsible, that I wouldn't do anything…"unsavory," I guess. I mean, okay, I see where he's coming from, but still. And jeez, it's not like he isn't a total hypocrite himself! _How_ many times have I been in his and Neela's company when _I seriously would have preferred not to be?_ God, least they could do is go over to _her_ place once in a while. Anyway, it's not like Brandon and I are dying to have sex or anything—oh, my God, Ray thinks I'm going to get pregnant! Yeah, that's gotta be what it is—he's worried that without the "positive female role model" in my life, I'm going to go and get myself knocked up! Again, the filthy hypocrite…does he think I don't know about _his_ player days? It could be fun though…I mean, I know better obviously, but it could be fun to make him nervous, watch him squirm, thinking he's raised a—I dunno— Painted Woman, for a sister._

_Ugh, it must _really_ be late…I'm practically formulating plans to pretend to be a hooker to get back at my brother! Maybe I was wrong, maybe this mono crap _did_ addle my brains…_

* * *

At some point, Emily drifted off to sleep, to be woken up seven hours later by her alarm clock. Still groggy, she was halfway through trying to force both legs down the same pant hole when Ray gave his usual morning knock to check her progress. 

"Good morning," he greeted her, "Almost ready?" he asked.

"Almost," Emily answered, having finally gotten her jeans right.

"Okay, I have to go in to work a little bit early, so as soon as you're done," Ray said.

"Okay, I'll be done in a minute," she answered.

Fifteen minutes later, Ray and Emily were in his car, halfway to her school.

"Set with everything?" Ray asked.

"Yup," Emily answered.

"I'll be home at the usual time, maybe a little bit later. And Neela might be coming home with me," he added cautiously. He was pretty sure he hadn't been imagining the tension that Emily he had been sensing regarding her feelings about Neela. Sure enough, he was pretty sure he saw her stiffen, if only very slightly.

"You know, Em, you might want to think about getting to know Neela a little bit better…maybe doing something with her this weekend."

"I know her fine," Emily stated.

"I know sweetie, but she's a pretty big part of my life, and I want to make sure _you_, the _most important_ person in my life, are okay with her."

Emily softened. "Well, I'll see." For good measure, she added, "You know, I don't _hate_ her, right?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After dropping Emily off at school, Ray continued on to County. Work had changed dramatically for him during the past few weeks. The switch from being an Intern to an R2 was change enough, but he and Neela now had their work vs. personal relationship to think about. They had managed to keep everything under wraps for a little while, which Ray had been very proud of. After all, it wasn't _easy_ to resist the temptation to make out in the middle of the hallway, but they managed to not do it—overtly, at any rate. However, before the long the County General Gossip Train caught on to their relationship, and started blasting it full-steam ahead to the rest of the hospital. It wasn't that bad usually, but it got really annoying when the nurses would raise their eyebrows in what they imagined to be a "knowing look" whenever Ray or Neela asked one another for a second opinion.

As for going from an Intern to a fully-fledged resident, that was something else entirely. He wasn't sure if it was possible to feel more like a doctor than ever before, while at the same time feel less like a doctor than ever before. At any rate, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

He pulled into County's staff parking lot and tugged his coat on before stepping out into the autumn Chicago morning. He said a quick "Morning" to Frank at the desk before he went into the Doctor's Lounge. He felt his spirits positively lift at the sight of Neela at her locker, pulling on her lab coat and stethoscope. He was struck with a sudden bolt of mischievous inspiration, and decided to have some fun while they were alone.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered throatily into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He felt her split-second surprise from under his arms as he caught her off-guard.

"Hi," she whispered back, matching his tone exactly.

They managed a quick kissing session, following in the footsteps of the doctors that had come before them. In typical ER fashion, they were interrupted.

"Ray, Neela, we need you for a GSW that's pulling up!" Haleh said as she burst in. Ray and Neela hastily leapt apart, and Neela changed tack at the speed of light, to cover for their escapades.

"Thanks Haleh—anyway, Ray, just ice that twice a day. Should help with the throbbing," she said with a wink.

"Ooh, you are _evil_," Ray whispered as they took the trauma gowns and gloves that Haleh was holding out for them. They left the lounge and met the rest of the trauma team in the ambulance bay.

"Neela, Ray and Sam, you three take this first one!" Morris directed as an ambulance pulled up. "Haleh and Abby, you're with me!"

"There are _two_?" Neela asked, not waiting for an answer as she rushed to the back ambulance's double back doors.

* * *

When Emily got to school, she found that a note had been slipped through the vent in her locker. Grinning to herself, she opened it eagerly. She and Brandon often left each other notes like this. Her smile faltered slightly when she noticed that it wasn't as long as their usual love notes; instead it only bore a simple _Em, meet me here at break. -Brandon_

She was puzzled. They _always_ met up at her locker at break—why would he go out of his way to make sure she was there? It didn't make sense, but the ringing of the first bell drove the issue from her mind as she hastily slammed her locker shut and walked to her class.

Once more, Brandon's weird tone in his note popped into her mind as she sat in History. She struggled to push it from her mind. _Come on, come on! Pay attention! Okay, the Great Migration. The Thirteen Colonies. Meet me here at break. No, no! Maryland, New York, Virginia! Em, break, Brandon!_ She whispered these last words aloud, attracting a couple of confused looks from those in the surrounding desks. Panicking slightly, she tried to cover it up with a cough and an exaggerated sneeze.

The bell rang not long after, and Emily was glad to get lost in the hustle of the rest of the school as she walked down the hallway. She smiled at a couple people she knew before arriving at her next class, hoping she would be able to concentrate more. It wasn't like her to get so distracted in class. _What's up Em? Come on, pull it together!_ She mentally scolded herself.

She had an easier time in English, helped by the fact that they were working on skits. She normally hated skits, but found the noise and confusion a soothing change of pace from her brain's over-analyzing. Still, when the bell rang almost an hour later, she found herself positively racing back to her locker.

Emily stopped short about ten feet from her locker, once the hallway cleared enough for her to get a good look at it. Brandon was standing there, but gone was his customary boyish grin. Instead, he had a weird expression on his face and seemed to be standing straighter than usual.

"Hey sweetie, what's up?" Emily asked cheerfully enough, trying to start the conversation out lightly. She hoped she had kept the feeling of weariness out of her voice.

"Hi. Look, Em, I think we need to talk," Brandon answered. Without waiting for her to answer, he continued, "I'm sorry, I know this might seem sudden, but I think we should break up."

"Wh-what?" Emily stammered after a moment. His last words had stunned her. She suddenly became very aware of her heart. It seemed to still be thudding dully in her chest like normal, but why was she sure it had stopped?

"I'm sorry, Emily," Brandon repeated simply. He turned to walk away.

At once, Emily felt a hundred words zooming from her brain to her mouth, and parted her lips to form the beginning of the word "Why?" Something inside her decided against it. Brandon looked like he was waiting for her to say something else, but Emily brushed past him and numbly made her way to the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_A school bathroom stall can be quite the educational experience_, Emily thought to herself from her position on the closed toilet seat. As soon as this thought left her mind, reality seemed to sink in. She had positively fled into the stall after talking to Brandon. She knew he had dumped her, but it didn't seem real yet. She had never been dumped before—due to the fact that this had been her first serious relationship, and _she_ had always been the one to hand pubescent boys their smashed hearts on a silver platter. As she perched, reading the immortal words of those who had come before her—_Jenny is a slut; Joey Preston is a dumbass_—the full weight of Brandon's words hit her. _I think we should break up._ Throwing every ounce of self-respect out the window, Emily let out a deep, guttural wail.

She was alone in the bathroom, and the sound waves of her cry bounced off of the tiled walls, not permeating into the hall outside where it would have surely been lost among the shuffle of students at break. She continued sobbing until the bell rang, when its shrillness shook her from her anguish. Slowly, she stumbled out of the stall. According to the bathroom mirror, she looked like a wreck, but it was nothing to how she felt inside. She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and shakily dialed the ER's number, thanking what was left of her lucky stars that no one else walked in.

"ER," a voice sounded over the line after the third ring.

"Yes, I need to speak with Dr. Barnett, please, this is his sister" Emily said slowly and clearly.

"Hang on," the new desk clerk handed the phone over to Ray as he was passing by. "Dr. Barnett, it's for you."

"Thanks…Deirdre," Ray said, taking a quick glance at her nametag. Into the phone, he said, "This is Dr. Barnett."

"Ray?" Emily's voice wavered over the line.

"Em, hey what's wrong?" Ray asked, immediately concerned at her tone of voice.

"Ray, please, I need you to pick me up," Emily managed to squeak before dissolving in a fit of sobs.

"Emily! Emily!" Ray shouted into the phone, panicking now. "Emily, slow down, and tell me what happened. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Hiccupping, Emily answered shakily, "He—he broke up with me. I n-need to c-come h-home."

Sighing deeply, Ray said, "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry. Where are you now?"

"I'm in the b-bathroom. Can you _please_ come get me?" Emily said.

"Sweetie, I—can't get away right now," Ray answered, cringing as his sister broke into fresh tears. "You know what? Hang on though, I'll find someone who can pick you up. Okay? Emily?"

"Uh huh," she replied softly.

"Okay, I'll call you right back. Can you wait somewhere for about twenty minutes?"

"Um, y-yeah."

"Okay Emmy, I'll call you back," Ray said, hoping to induce a smile on Emily's part. "Emmy" had been the name of a stuffed bunny Emily had had as a toddler, and she had wanted it to have "the same name as me." Since she was three, the name—for the bunny, and for Emily—had stuck.

Ray hung up the phone. "Deirdre," he asked, "Is anyone about to go on their break?"

"Um," the young clerk answered, consulting the schedule, "Looks like…Morris…oh, and Neela, are both due for one."

"'Kay, thanks!" Ray called over his shoulder as he headed off to find Neela. There was no way he was about to saddle Emily with Morris at a time like this. He found her in the lounge.

"Hey," he said to her as she was pulling on her coat. "Can I ask a _huge_ favor?"

Neela looked up at him, surprised at his sudden appearance. "Hey, you," she answered warmly. Seeing the urgency in his face, she asked, "What's up?"

"I just talked to Emily. She got dumped and is really upset. She was begging me to pick her up, but I can't go right now—" he stopped when Neela waved her hands.

"It's no problem, I'll go and get her," Neela answered.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Ray said, stooping down to give her a quick kiss.

"Don't worry about it—I know what she must be going through," Neela said. She fished for her keys in her pocket. "Do you want me to bring her back here, or to your place?"

"Probably my place, that's what she said, but see what she wants. She might not want to be alone right now."

"Got it, I'll be back," Neela said with a quick wave before leaving the lounge, leaving Ray on the couch. She quickly told Deirdre she was leaving before hurrying out to her car.

Meanwhile, back on the couch Ray rubbed his temples. It seemed his life had just hit a new snag. He had _no_ idea how to help his little sister deal with a break-up.

* * *

When Neela pulled up to Emily's high school, she found her sitting on the steps. She quickly parked and climbed up to meet her.

"Hey, Emily," Neela said carefully, taking a seat next to her. "Sorry, Ray wanted to be here but had a patient." She smiled feebly. "I know, I'm a pathetic replacement. Do I need to sign you out or anything?"

Emily shook her head, "I took care of it," she croaked as fresh tears filled her eyes. In one swift motion, Neela pulled her into a soft hug, smoothing her hair.

"It'll be okay," she whispered to her. "Come on, let's go," she said softly. They awkwardly stood up together, and walked down to the car. Once inside, Neela faced Emily. "Do you want me to take you home—?" she trailed off as Emily shook her head. "Back to the ER, then? Okay," she said, answering her own question.

The drive back to County was quiet, interrupted only by Emily's occasional dry sobs. "Do you want to talk about it?" Neela asked tentatively. She'd dealt with her own share of break-ups before, but her experience helping others with theirs' was limited, particularly when they were still in high school. Emily shook her head, but seemed to change her mind instantly when she suddenly launched into the story.

"He l-left me a n-note in my l-locker this morning, saying to m-meet him later. I did, and he just said he thought we should b-break up!" Emily cried, her last words nearly lost in the storm of tears.

"Oh—oh," Neela said sympathetically, the right words not quite coming to her. She settled for reaching across the seat and squeezing Emily's shoulder. "I know, I know, Emily. Let it out, go ahead, just let it all out, it's okay" she said, doing her best to comfort the sobbing girl.

Within several minutes, Neela pulled into her usual parking space in the hospital lot. She went around to Emily's side and gave her a tight hug before helping her out of the car. With her arm around her, they walked inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Thanks, Neela," a much calmer Emily said awkwardly as they walked into the ER.

"It was really no trouble, Emily," Neela answered warmly. She looked at her watch, "Look, I have a few minutes, if maybe you'd like to go somewhere quiet and talk?"

"Um, yeah, that could be nice," Emily said slowly, not quite sure of what she was getting herself into. They walked into the lounge, and Neela took two cans of soda from the refrigerator. Handing one to Emily, she sat down on the couch next to her.

"So," Neela began, popping the top off of her can, "How're you doing? _Really_ doing?"

Emily paused. "I'm a wreck inside," she said slowly, contemplating her words. "I know this might sound pathetic, but I thought we were _really_ going to be together for a really long time. You know, like high school sweethearts for life…or, something…" she trailed off as fresh patches of tears gathered in her eyes. She hid behind her long hair as she fought to regain her composure.

"Emily…" Neela began, handing her a tissue, "I promise you, there is that perfect guy out there, somewhere, waiting for you. And when you find him, what this bloody jerk did to you will be the farthest thing from your mind. He's out there, I promise you he is. You have plenty of time, don't worry."

Emily was silent for a moment, save for the occasional sniffle. "It's just…who _does_ that? He just _slipped_ me a note, telling me to meet him, and then he just came right out and _said_ it!" She finished her sentence before ducking behind her hair again.

"There's no excuse, Em. Think of it this way, isn't it better you know the truth now, before things had time to get any more serious?"

"I'm just…not ready to think that way yet. I'm so _angry_, and _hurt_."

"It's going to be hard, but it won't last forever. Believe me on that. Oh, Emily…" Neela moved closer to her on the couch and put her arm around her as more tears started to fall.

A shrill beeping interrupted their moment, and Neela searched her pockets for her pager. "Damn, Em I'm sorry, I have to go. Stay here, I'll come back in when I'm done, and I'll find your brother, tell him you're in here." She paused. "Are you going to be okay?" Emily nodded. "Right," Neela said, standing up. "I'll be back, and I hereby give you permission to kick the ass of anyone who's bothering you. Got it?" she finished with a smile. Emily nodded again, managing a weak smile of her own.

* * *

"Jerry, who paged me?" Neela asked as she left the lounge.

"Um, I don't know but there's an MVA two minutes out."

"Thanks," Neela said as she walked out into the ambulance bay. She was greeted by a cold blast of air. Shivering under her lab coat, she walked over to Ray.

"Hey," he said when he turned and saw her. She ducked under his arm for warmth as she fished in her pockets for a pair of gloves.

"Hey," she answered.

"So how's she doing?"

"Not good," she said, "First break-ups are always hard," she said as his eyes filled with concern. "And he wasn't exactly gentle; no warning, just came out and said it."

"Bastard," Ray growled. "Would I like to meet _him_ in a dark alley…"

"Ray," Neela admonished, "Emily's going to be fine…she doesn't exactly need you brought up on assault charges," she quipped.

"It's so weird…I saw them together _yesterday_, and they seemed fine. All that touchy-feely stuff that girls seem to love—" he stopped at the look on Neela's face. "I mean, I _love it_ with you babe," he said quickly. "You think…" he paused awkwardly, "It was because she wouldn't…do stuff?"

"I don't know," Neela answered truthfully.

"It's just so much…"

"Like you?" Neela supplied quietly.

"Well…yeah. I've been a jerk a couple times in my life…but this is _my sister_ we're talking about. _No one_ can do that to my _sister_," he finished angrily as the ambulance pulled up.

"Ray, she's a strong girl. She'll get over it, and she'll be a better person because of it," Neela said wisely as the paramedics opened the back of the rig.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Later that afternoon, Ray's shift was almost over and he took Emily to the cafeteria for a soda on his break. They hadn't been able to talk much since their phone conversation. As they walked down the hall, Ray was at a loss for the right words and Emily shuffled next to him miserably.

"So," Ray began as they slid into a table, sipping their cokes. "How're you doing, babe? C'mon, let it all out, unload on me. I can take it, I promise," he said.

Emily was quiet. "Well, you know how he—did it," she said softly, sensing her anger building once more. "How everything was fine and then the _damn coward_ just _dumped me_." Her face was reddening.

"I know, I know," Ray said soothingly, still unsure of what he could bring to the conversation to comfort her. "You want to know the truth, Em? The guy's a dick, and you're better off without him." Emily snorted into her straw.

"I know you're right," she said, "You and Neela, but right now it doesn't help. I mean, I've kind of gotten over the shock part of it—I can feel all of my extremities now—"

"Always helpful," Ray interrupted.

"—and I'm just _angry_."

"Did you guys have a…disagreement or something?" Ray asked, remembering his previous conversation with Neela.

Emily gave him a hard look. "You want to know if he dumped me because I wouldn't go down on him."

"Crap, Emily," Ray spluttered, choking on his soda. "You don't have be so…_blunt_," he said, furtively checking the surrounding tables to see if anyone was paying attention to what had just come out of his little sister's mouth.

Emily rolled her eyes. "_Please_," she scoffed. "I'd have thought you knew me a little bit better than to immediately jump to _that_ assumption, but glad to know where your mind is, older brother."

"Em, I didn't mean—"

"Relax, I haven't shamed the family name," Emily said in a bored tone.

Ray let out a huge breath for the sole purpose of changing the subject. "Well," he began, "I think I speak for all when I say I think we can put _that_ subject to rest."

"Indeed," nodded Emily.

"I'll probably be able to get out of here within the next hour and a half. What do you say we grab some take-out on the way home?"

"Sure."

"What's your homework situation?"

"Not too much, but I need to call someone to find out what I missed," Emily answered as she drained the last of her drink. They both stood up.

"Okay, I'll let you take care of that," Ray said. Catching her arm as she turned to walk, he looked deeply into her eyes. "Em, are you sure you're okay?"

Emily hesitated for a moment, her desire to always appear in control of a situation fighting her desperate need for a hug from her big brother. Ray saw this internal battle and pulled her into a hug before she had time to respond.

"If I could take away your hurt, I would."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When Ray and Emily got home she headed directly into the bathroom. Ray waited for the telltale sounds of bathwater running before he called out, "I'll just leave a plate for you in the fridge!" As he heard Emily puttering around in the bathroom, he rooted through the various cartons of Chinese food, searching for his prized orange chicken. Still rummaging, he picked up the phone and dialed Neela's cell phone number. His hand, greasy from the food, fumbled the phone as he brought it up to his ear.

"—leave me a message so I can get back to you!" chimed Neela's voice over the receiver.

"Hey, babe it's me. I know you're still at work and that you were planning on dropping by tonight. I think Emily needs her space tonight, and a full house wouldn't help much. Give me a call when you get this, though, I know we still have a lot to talk about," he added significantly.

What had started as a joke, the "Let's talk about _us_" talk had become a very real part of Ray and Neela's relationship. Playful talk ranging from "_Well_, if I didn't _have_ to go home…" to "Why do you _always_ leave the bloody toilet seat up?" had led to much more serious talk about moving in together. Both were hesitant, especially Ray. Their concerns ranged from the typical: "Is it too _soon_?" to the specific: "What about Emily?" As Ray hung up though, a huge yawn told him that he wasn't up for having any all-night conversations tonight.

* * *

When Emily closed the door to the bathroom, she immediately turned on the bath tap. She unceremoniously stripped down, flinging various articles of clothing anywhere except into the tub. She pored through her collection of bubble baths, finally picking one that she'd only used once before. 

_That night, had it really been only a few weeks ago? It already felt like it had been forever. They'd gone out earlier, had seen some stupid movie, and gone through the normal "date motions." These really were only "motions," and they both knew it. Because that night wasn't about a whiny teen flick. It was about sex. They had been planning on it for a very long time. Only when the time came, Emily had backed out. Scared, she demanded to be brought back home. They didn't speak until the next day, when Brandon had taken her into his arms and apologized for the whole thing. He said understood, and that he would never push her to do anything she wasn't ready for. Afterward, she'd drawn herself a bath, adding a bubble bath she hadn't used before, and hadn't used since. Until now._

After she dribbled the remainder of the bottle into the bath, Emily climbed in. She shuddered for a moment, then relaxed against the pink suds, willing her memories away. She hadn't lied to Ray earlier today. Well, not entirely. Brandon hadn't dumped her because of oral sex, it was because of _all_ sex. But the next day, he'd said he understood! He'd given her his word! And she had counted herself among the luckiest girls in the world, because she had the best boyfriend EVER.

What did it all mean now? _I'm an idiot. I can't read people. I'm so desperate for acceptance that I'll believe _anything_ that _anyone_ tells me. I'm pathetic._

* * *

Various thoughts like these swirled around her head until a knock on the door startled her. She didn't realize that she'd dozed off, but as she opened her eyes she saw that nearly all of the bubbles had dissolved. 

"Em? You still in there? No offense, Emily, but I really gotta pee," Ray's voice filtered through the door.

"Wh—um, yeah, hang on a minute," she said, hastily clambering out. She let the remaining water out and wrapped herself in a towel. "All yours," she said as she moved past Ray. "And sorry about the mess…" she trailed off, indicating her haphazard collection of clothes.

"Are you kidding? This is great! It proves you're human!"

Emily smiled, but secretly wished there was something _else_ that could prove her human, because being messy didn't count.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Three weeks later… 

Emily sat at her desk, hastily flipping through pages in her history textbook. _The election of 1824…where'd it go?...Jackson, Clay, Adams, Calhoun…come on, where is it?...aha!_

It was a Thursday night. Ray and Neela had gone out for dinner, leaving Emily home to study. Life for her had settled down—somewhat. A week of spending life at school with her head tucked down, hoping to evade pointed looks and whispers had culminated with Brandon's flaunting his newest catch throughout the hallways. It was hard for Emily to feel sorry for herself when she was trying to memorize math formulas during lunch and suddenly, there was Brandon and his bimbo strutting around. Emily got angry—fast. The story differed depending on who you talked to, but the general understanding was that quiet Emily Barnett had given the guy who broke her heart quite the tongue-lashing—in front of his new girlfriend. Naturally, this version differed quite a bit from the one that claimed she'd gotten down in the mud and beaten the crap out of the girlfriend. Where the mud came from, no one seemed to know. Whatever your sources, the bottom line remained that Brandon Henderson now knew exactly what his ex-girlfriend thought of him.

Having found her book's entry on the 1824 presidential election, Emily decided to take a break. Marking her place, she snapped the book closed and left her room, heading toward the kitchen. Ray and Neela had been gone for almost an hour as she began digging through the refrigerator, looking for something to eat. While her life had been brought to a near standstill over the past month, Ray and Neela's lives together had been quickly moving ahead. Despite their reassuring hints to her that they were "taking things slow," Emily knew better. The truth was that they seemed to spend all their time together, everything from hospital to home life.

"Damnit!"

Emily had become so engrossed in her quest for leftovers that she hadn't noticed the water pitcher on the shelf which she was excavating inch closer and closer to the edge. She noticed it just as it gave its last precarious wobble and toppled to the ground. The resounding crash made her jump and she felt the cold water instantly wash over her feet. It took her a moment to realize that the pink blossom in the pool of water was blood.

"Crap," she muttered as she noticed that her big toe had been sliced open by one of the glass shards. She reached for the roll of paper towels on the counter and firmly pressed on her cut. She laid several more paper towels on top of the mess on the floor and then hobbled into the bathroom.

"Come on, Ray, Mr. Suave Doctor-Man, where'd you put the Band-Aids?" Emily asked aloud, searching their medicine cabinet. She located the bandages and alcohol wipes, and gritted her teeth as she tore one of the wipes open and swabbed her cut. She clumsily affixed a Band-Aid and went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Emily was no closer to eating, yet all of the glass had been swept up and the water on the floor dried. Dropping her last paper towel into the trash can, she heard the telltale sounds of laughter outside the apartment front door that signaled Ray and Neela's return. 

"Hey," she called out to them as they stepped over the threshold.

"Hey Em," Ray called back as he and Neela took their coats off. Unnecessarily, he added "We're home."

"By the way, we're minus one water pitcher," Emily informed them.

"Huh?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, it went out in a final blaze of glory. I knocked it out of the refrigerator. In all fairness, it took a bit of me with it," Emily explained, indicating her foot.

"Yow," said Ray.

"On an unrelated topic, you didn't happen to tote home anything from the restaurant, did you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, actually," Neela spoke up.

"Great, thanks. I'm going to take this back with me. I can practically feel the history terms leaking out of my head already."

* * *

The next day, Emily sat in her English class, in hurried whispered conversation with her friend Lola. They were discussing the latest reported transgression on Brandon's part. 

"You're sure they _did it_?" Emily asked, wide-eyed. True, reports of Brandon and his girlfriend were an everyday occurrence, but this particular one stung.

"It's what her sister told Alicia," Lola stated simply.

"How did the sister find out?"

"Who knows? The point is, you can now hope that they've passed each other some horrible virus that'll make them both grow warts and a rash down there or something," Lola answered gleefully.

"Yeah, that _would_ be funny. Imagine they go to County and Ray ends up treating them or something!"

"Miss Barnett, Miss Labradora, are you girls paying attention back there?"

Emily's and Lola's heads snapped up as their teacher's voice rang out from the front of the room. With on last wicked snicker, they turned their attention back to the board.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I _must_ _profusely thank_ **AshCarroll aka ShadowDiva** for her fantastic ideas and suggestions regarding the direction of this story!

* * *

Chapter 8

The next day when Emily arrived at school, she was dimly aware that fluorescent flyers had cropped up all over campus. She paid them no attention until she arrived at her locker and was dismayed to find that one had been taped to the middle of it.

"Honestly," she muttered in disgust, "Was _my_ locker the only one available for advertising space?"

She plucked the paper away from her locker handled as she dialed the combination to open it.

"Em! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Emily turned to see Lola hurrying toward her, her dark hair flapping against her back. "Didn't you get my note?"

"What note?" Emily asked.

"This one," Lola said, retrieving the now-crumpled flyer that Emily had torn off her locker moments ago.

"What?" Emily asked, now thoroughly confused as Lola smoothed the paper out against the wall.

"Didn't you _read_ it?" Lola asked earnestly.

"No," Emily slowly, "I thought it was junk."

"Junk?" Lola repeated. "_Junk_? No, this just happens to be the blueprint of a brilliant plan!"

"What?" Emily asked impatiently. "In case you haven't noticed, it's a flyer. Or, wait—are you still taking that drama class where you're supposed to act like random bits of trash hold the answers to the world's greatest questions? Because I haven't forgotten about that thing with the stapler."

"Yes, yes," Lola said, flapping her hands impatiently. "But this isn't _just_ a _flyer_," she brandished it in front of her, "It's a _flyer_ to the _Sadie Hawkins dance_!"

Emily laughed immediately, seeing that a dance had been the cause of her friend's excited gesticulating and enthusiasm.

"_Sadie Hawkins_? We still _have those_? Emily asked incredulously. "The name is connoting images of bad hairstyles and giant wads of pink bubblegum."

"Whatever, that's beside the point! Now's your _chance_!"

"_My chance_?"

Lola took a minute before she replied, looking as though she was steeling herself for a moment. "Em, honestly, I love you, but I feel like I could have a more intelligent conversation with a brick right about now. First of all, it's a dance, so this is a perfect opportunity for you to make yourself look freaking _exquisite_ and get Brandon to feel like the Official Crap that we all know that he is once and for all. Second, it's a female-driven dance, so you're automatically in a place of power. Are you following me?"

Emily was silent for a moment. When she spoke, she said, "This. Is. Brilliant. But I don't have anything to wear."

Lola rolled her eyes, "For crying out loud, _Cinderella_, put your damn violin away. We'll get you something amazing this weekend, trust me, I have it all planned out—don't worry."

* * *

Ray sighed as he sat at the admit desk, filling in orders on the charts of the various patients he had seen that day. 

"Hey."

Ray looked up at the sound of a voice, and broke into a smile as Neela wheeled a stool over to sit by him.

"Hey yourself," he said back to her with a grin, casting a quick glance around before giving her a quick peck on the lips. "What have you been up to?"

"The usual, pretty much. Although I have to admit that the guy in four with the diarrhea certainly shook things up a bit. Anyway, what are you doing here? Charting?" Neela asked, indicating the stack in front of him.

"Yeah, unless my fantastic girlfriend is telling me to take a break…?"

"Sorry, I can't. I'm waiting for a trauma to come in. ETA is about three minutes."

"Ah," Ray said, sounding somewhat disheartened, "Well, I guess I'll just have to make myself content with the results of Mrs. Peterson's urinalysis."

"Well, now how can I possibly compete with _that_?" Neela asked with a smile as the doors to the ambulance entrance banged open.

"I can think of a few ways!" Ray called after her as she went to meet the paramedics.

* * *

At a quarter to seven that night, Ray was getting back the labs of what he hoped would be his last patient of the shift. 

"Damn," he said when he looked at the results. Heaving an exhausted sigh, he went off to find Neela.

"Jerry, have you seen Neela?" he asked the desk clerk.

"Uh, I think she's in the lounge."

"Great, thanks."

Ray pushed open the door of the doctor's lounge to find Neela at her locker, hastily adjusting a fresh pair of scrubs.

"What happened to you?" he asked her when she looked up and saw him.

"Remember my diarrhea guy? Yep," she trailed off, allowing her silence to explain the rest of the story.

"Fun. Hey, do you think you could go back to my place for a while without me? My patient in two just got some crappy lab results back, so I figured I'd stay around for a little while since we're short staffed tonight anyway."

"Yeah, no problem," Neela answered.

"Thanks. I think Em has a test tomorrow that she's going to be studying for, so she should be pretty wrapped up all night, but I'd rather her not have to eat alone a second time this week," Ray said

"I understand. Go, don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

"_Thank you_," Ray said, "I'd kiss you, but, you know, Diarrhea Man and all—"

"Haha," Neela raised an eyebrow.

"And there should be food—somewhere—in the apartment," Ray said.

"I doubt we'll starve, unless you let everything go past its expiration date again…"

"Haha," it was Ray's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Good luck with your patient, don't stay too late, okay?" Neela said.

"I'll try. I'll also call Em and let her know you'll be coming over."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Hello?" Emily asked as she grabbed the cordless phone off of the kitchen counter.

"Hey, Em, it's me," Ray's voice floated over the line.

"Hey, where are you? Is your shift over?"

"No, that's why I'm calling. I'm going to stay here for a few more hours, but Neela's going to come over to the apartment and hang out with you."

"Neela?" Emily asked, and Ray thought he detected a trace of wariness in her voice.

"Yeah, since I won't be home for a while I figured you might want some company."

Emily shrugged, but then remembered that Ray couldn't see that. "Um, okay I guess. When is she going to be here?"

"Twenty minutes, probably. And Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Just…be nice, okay?"

"Come again?"

"Look, you can study all you want in your room, but when you come out…be nice to her, okay?"

"Ray, what are you talking about?"

"Believe me, I think you know. I'm not judging you or saying you're wrong, but for tonight? For me? Help me out."

"Fine, whatever I have to go, okay?" Emily hoped her impatient tone would cover her true irritation.

"Okay. I'll call you when I'm coming home. Bye"

"Bye," Emily said as she hung up the phone. _This is so typical of Ray! _

The truth was that Emily had been quite ambivalent regarding Neela. The two of them had certainly been doing better lately--at least there was no open animosity--but Ray was usually with them. However, despite the way that Neela had helped her with Brandon, when the two of them spent long periods of time together, things often got tense. This especially happened when Emily would stumble out of her room in the morning, still in her pajamas, and would pass Neela in the hall as she came out of the bathroom, or else see her in the kitchen drinking coffee. Regarding those early-morning run-ins, Emily was no fool, yet was excellent at pushing the obvious from her mind. Regardless, Emily got undoubtedly colder the more often these encounters occurred, especially when she didn't have sufficient time between them to thaw.

_So Ray's finally noticed, then_. Emily thought to herself as she sat back down in front of her computer. _But he still went and asked her to come over. When he's not being concerned, he's being clueless_.

_Seriously?_ She continued. _"Be nice"? It's not like I'm going to hog-tie her and take her money! I don't even know why any of this is such a big deal, because I don't hate her or anything—I don't even dislike her! I don't really _know_ her, and as a result of that, I'm _reserved.

"Reserved," she repeated out loud to herself.

_And I've always been reserved around Ray's girlfriends, and Neela's just the one that's been around the longest, and therefore I've been reserved more around her._

Even as she thought that last bit, Emily knew how ridiculous it sounded. Shouldn't she be _less_ reserved around Neela, since Neela _had_ been around the longest?

"Whatever," she said out loud again. "I'll psychoanalyze my feelings another time," she said as she went back to work.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As Neela climbed the steps leading to Ray and Emily's apartment, she couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous.

_Honestly Neela, pull yourself together. It's not like Emily's this mad, axe-wielding sociopath who's just waiting to prominently display your head on a platter for Ray when he gets home! She'll be studying most of the time, and unless she gets the urge to clock you with a textbook, you'll be fine._ Her thoughts to herself, despite the this-is-not-a-big-deal attitude they were adopting, did little to quell her nervousness.

The truth of it was, Neela's roller-coaster relationship with Emily was really beginning to get to her. While the initial awkwardness of "Hi-I'm-your-older-brother-who-is-the-only-close-living-relative-of-yours'-girlfriend-we-met-in-the-hall-this-morning" had passed (especially since their first meeting _hadn't_ been early in the morning, in the hallway on the way to the bathroom), there was still some definite distance between them. There had been the occasional warming-to-each other moments, such as when Neela had picked Emily up after being unceremoniously being dumped by Brandon. There had been a few moments of a heart-to-heart connection, but since then they had been replaced by chilly indifference.

As she rounded the top of the stairs, Neela steeled herself. _Just go with it, it'll be fine_.

As Emily was flipping through her class notes feeling the ever-increasing weight of panic mount as she thought of her test, she heard a soft knock on the front door. _All right, this is it_, she thought as she reluctantly got up from her desk. Additional thoughts of _I can't believe Ray is doing this to me_ chased themselves around her head as she headed across the apartment to the door.

"Hey," Emily said as she pulled open the door, hoping her face and cheery tone she had adopted fit what Ray had described as "being nice." _I don't hate her, I don't, I don't!_

"Hey Emily," Neela replied as she stepped inside, her tone matching Emily's. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good, studying, you know," Emily answered as they stood awkwardly over the threshold. "I hope you didn't have to, like, put yourself out or anything tonight in coming here," she said, then froze as soon as the words left her mouth. "I mean, like that it wasn't a big inconvenience, not like the other way…" she trailed off.

Neela, to her credit, Emily noted, seemed to blush for an instant then smiled quickly to smooth it over. "No, not at all. I was happy to help Ray—and you—out. I was planning on coming over here anyway."

"Right, um, you guys do that," Emily mumbled. "Okay, well like I said, I've got a major test tomorrow, so I don't mean to be crappy company or anything, but I've got work to do."

"Right," Neela said, momentarily lost for words in the supreme awkwardness of their exchange. "If you're hungry, let me know, I'll see if I can dig something out from the recesses of your vegetable crisper or something."

This forced a genuine smile out of Emily. Apparently Ray's inability to properly grocery shop had not escaped his girlfriend. "Okay," she said, quickly returning to her usual around-Neela-mumbling self.

As Emily returned to her room, she began to mentally kick herself. _God, what is wrong with me? I'd _like_ to have a friendly relationship with her! She's actually on par with me intellectually, with is a refreshing change from those other—women—Ray's "brought home" (thank goodness he's over that stage). She's trying to be nice…I'm trying to be nice, I think, but it's not coming out that way. Why? Could it be—_Emily's insides began to squirm, as she could not quite bring herself to admit what she—and Ray and Neela—knew: this was going to be a permanent relationship, and she, Emily, wasn't sure if she and Ray were ready, together, to add one more to the family they had been together for so long.

_I feel like I've had this conversation with myself before_, Emily continued as she sat down at her desk once more. _Have I become one of those people that endlessly chase the same topic around and around, yet punish everyone else for my own issues? This is screwed up, I'd like this to work, I'm such a—_

A soft yet determined knock on her open door shook Emily from her reverie of mentally berating herself. She jerked her head up. It was Neela.

"Emily, I was wondering if we could talk…"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_Okay,_ Neela thought, panicking slightly. _What the hell am I supposed to say next?_ She looked at Emily, who was looking at her intently. Neela thought she detected a flicker of something in her eyes—surprise? No, the rest of her face was clearly showing that. Fear? Maybe.

"So, can we talk?" Neela asked. Emily gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head, clearly as taken aback by this turn of events as Neela was. "Okay, thanks," Neela said awkwardly as she did the only next logical thing, which was to cross Emily's room and perch on the edge of the bed.

"Um," Neela began as Emily swiveled in her desk chair to face her, settling herself in deeper. "So, look," she said uneasily. "I recognize that there has been some tension between us these past few months, and I thought it would be good if we, you know, talked about it." _Please help me out_, she pleaded silently. _Anything, even a blink, just to tell me you know what I'm talking about_.

"I know that the two of us haven't spent very much time alone together, and the time that we have spent I feel has been marked by this invisible animosity. I really like you Emily. From what Ray's told me about you, and from what I've seen myself, you seem like a very special young woman. I just wish that we could get to know each other better, without feeling like we're—_competing_," she finished significantly.

She tried a different angle, "I know how much you mean to Ray, the two of you have a special bond unlike anything I've ever seen. I would never ask you to change that, I'm just wondering if somewhere, down the line, there could be some room for me in your circle?" Neela lapsed into silence, having poured her heart out, hoping against hope that Emily would say anything. For a moment, they stared at one another. Then Emily broke the silence.

"I'm sorry," she said simply. She shifted in her chair, and for a split second Neela was terrified that she was going to turn back to her work without another word. But the next second, Emily spoke in a voice very much unlike her own—one filled with power and determination, defiant, yet compassionate.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable. In truth, you've made me feel the same way. I hope I haven't been a strain on your relationship with my brother—or maybe I do, I don't know," Emily's voice wavered as she hastily dragged her hands through her hair, as if hoping to pull the right words directly from her brain.

"You have to understand that for so long, it's just been the two of us. Me and Ray. Maybe throw in a groupie bimbo here or there, but for the most part, it's just been us. So when someone new comes along, especially someone who I think could be around for a while," she looked directly into Neela's eyes, "I get a little bit scared, and I get a little bit defensive. What can I say? Ray's a foot taller, and weighs almost two of me, but I still feel like I have to defend him. Maybe it's that bond you were talking about, I don't know. Plus in another year I'll be going away to college, and I want to make sure he's going to be—I don't know, _okay_ or something. Maybe in some convoluted way I've been trying to scare off the unworthy girlfriends or something…I don't know. You haven't been scared away, so that's one good thing.

"I know you're a good person, Neela, and I know that you're good for Ray. Hell, you're probably even good for me—I usually keep these thoughts to myself. So I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable, but the truth is, you've made me feel uncomfortable too—but in a good way," Emily smiled. "I can't say that I can just drop everything and be the supportive little sister of your boyfriend's, you know with the pom poms and everything—I'm stubborn like that. Ray is too, you've probably noticed." It was Neela's turn to smile.

Emily continued, "I haven't been enjoying this, _tension_, as you put it, but like I've been trying to say, it's the only way I know how to act, a defense mechanism or whatever, when I see something that could be permanent."

They both stared at each other, shocked at how much the other had said, and how much they themselves had shared. Neela stood up. "Okay," she said quietly. "Thank you for…this." Her eyes were misty, Emily noticed. She stood up too.

"Should we, I don't know, hug or something?"

"That would be nice," Neela said, with a small laugh.

It was a short embrace, but one that nevertheless cemented the thoughts they had both shared. When the broke apart, each looking a little bit embarrassed, Neela said "Look, Emily, I just want you to know, there's nothing about me that you should feel you have to defend yourself against or be afraid of—I'm sure you could probably take me in a fight—Ray's always made it abundantly clear that you are the number one priority in his life. Like I said, I just hope I can have a chance to be a part of it."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

As Neela closed door to Emily's room, she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A torrent of emotions flooded through her—predominantly ones of relief and peace. She also couldn't quite believe how much Emily had opened up to her, and without much prodding. Neela had to admit, the girl was one of the most stubborn she had ever met.

She quietly settled herself on the couch, glancing at the clock. Ray could conceivably come home anytime, but she knew she probably shouldn't expect him for at least another hour or so. She reached into her bag and retrieved the book she was reading. It was funny, she noted dryly, that the only time she ever seemed to take any time for herself was when she was in Ray's company, or in this case, Ray's apartment.

Emily, back in her room, tried to return to her notes but couldn't get her conversation with Neela out of her head. She felt as though a huge load had been taken off of her shoulders, but all of that pressure seemed to be replacing itself with panic. She gasped,_ Did I actually say that I've been trying to scare her off? Oh my God, did I really_ _mention groupie bimbos? That must have made it uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that it sounds like I've been witness to a freaky rock-sex convention or something. Crap, what the hell did I say? Was this one big mistake? I should've said I couldn't talk—literally! I should've said I had bronchitis, or laryngitis, or singed vocal chords, or_—

The phone ringing in the living room brought Emily back to reality. She made a move to get up, but she heard Neela call, "I can get it, Emily." She slowly returned to her chair, most of the panic gone, but still a little bit uncertain.

In the living room, Neela found the cordless phone on the kitchen counter. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Ray! Hi!" Neela realized one second too late that her voice sounded overly cheerily.

"Hi," he said cautiously, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, no everything's fine, sorry, I didn't mean to sound so exuberant. Everything's really fine, actually."

"Really? And don't tell me it's because you did my laundry or anything, because I know that my clothes are a mess, but that's no reason to go all pep rally on me."

"No," Neela smiled, "Actually, it's me and Emily. We talked—a good talk, don't be alarmed."

"A good talk? With my sister? I'm very impressed. And you're sure that no dangerous objects were flung?"

"No, no, it wasn't _like that_. Really, we sort of…_bonded_, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well, honestly Ray! You can't expect these things to just _happen_, there's a _process_. Although I'm guessing there's much less of a process with a bimbo, but whatever…" Neela trailed off with a wicked smile.

"A what?"

"Never mind. When are you coming home?"

"Uh, shouldn't be much longer. I would've left twenty minutes ago, but we were slammed all of a sudden with a major MVA. I'm waiting for films now."

"Okay, well no problem. We're fine here, I'll see you when you get in."

"Yeah. Hey, before you go could you put Em on? I just want to say 'hi' really quick."

"Sure, hold on," Neela said, quickly walking back across the apartment to Emily's room. She knocked twice and when the door opened, handed the phone over. As Emily took it, Neela quietly closed the door and returned to the couch.

"Em?" Ray asked when he heard his sister come on the line.

"Hey, what's up?" Emily asked.

"I'm good here, how are _you_? I don't have much time, but Neela said you guys talked? How was that?"

"Well, clearly neither one of us is mortally wounded. It was fine, actually," Emily said as she heard someone on Ray's side of the conversation call to him.

"That's good, listen Em, I've gotta go, my guy's films are back. I'll be home as soon as I can okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you later," Emily hung up. She briefly considered bringing the phone back out into the other room, but decided against it. _Too awkward, we're in a delicate position here, can't rush things_. Instead, she decided to call Lola.

"Hello?" Lola answered her cell phone on the third ring.

"Hey, it's Em."

"Hi! Okay, before you say anything: I know we've got a test tomorrow, but do you realize what's in a mere week and two days?"

"Believe it or not, yeah, I do. And that's actually what I called you about. I don't have a dress, or even a _plan_ for this Sadie Hawkins dance that you are calling 'your brilliant plan.'"

"First, may I have permission to register my sheer astonishment that you are actually taking this _seriously_?"

"You may."

"Thanks. Now, second: _Do not worry_. On Saturday we will take care of _everything_. Believe me, I'm taking up this whole make-Brandon-eat-his-heart-out thing as a personal crusade," Lola declared confidently.

Emily laughed, "Thanks…I think. As long as this doesn't turn into one of your usual over-the-top events...?" There was silence on the other line. "All right then. But one more thing: I have to make sure that Ray's cool with letting me go…especially if your eating-his-heart-out plan will involve me flaunting certain aspects of my body in a completely-materialistic-yet-classy way."

"Oh," was all Lola said.

"I _may_ have a solution though: Neela and I sort of had a…heart-to-heart. I may—"

"Excuse me, what!" Lola interjected. "The same Neela, if I'm not mistaken, that you've been turning on the whole ice princess charm for?"

"Yeah. Look, it was complicated and kind of uncomfortable, but a good thing, I think. Anyway, if I have any problems with Ray, she may be able to help me out or something. Unless of course she's also against my materialistic-but-with-tact idea."

"Ah, devious."

"I thought so. Look, I have to go. This test tomorrow is totally going to kick my ass."

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

As Emily hung up the phone, she couldn't ignore the sense of calm that was overtaking her—despite the sinking feeling she had about her test. She had certainly done well on the Neela Front, and with any luck, she'd be getting the satisfaction of seeing Brandon's stunned face in little over a week's time.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Special thanks to **AshCarroll aka ShadowDiva** for some of her ideas regarding the next few chapters. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"There's no fracture, it's a simple shoulder dislocation," Ray said to Dr. Kovac as they examined his MVA patient's x-ray films in the hallway.

"All right, get Sam to help you reduce it, then order post-reduction films and get out of here Ray. Go home, your shift ended hours ago," Kovac called after him as he walked away.

Ray found Sam changing an IV on an elderly man in Exam One.

"All right Mr. Phillips, next time you need to use the bathroom, ask one of the nurses to help you, don't pull your IV out by yourself, okay?" she was saying.

"Hey Sam, could you help me with a shoulder reduction in Trauma Two? He's sedated, so whenever you're done here."

"Sure, no problem," she answered, snapping off her gloves. "The MVA guy?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll be right in."

"Thanks."

* * *

"All right, Frank, Abby, Morris," Ray said grandly to everyone at the desk, "I bid you all adieu, as I am now off after pulling one of the longest single shifts, I am sure, in County General history."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get too cocky Barnett," Morris said. "We'll be seeing your ass back here for the graveyard shift tomorrow night."

"Ah, Archibald Morris," Ray said as he swept out with a final mock bow, "It is you I will miss most of all."

* * *

Ray unlocked his apartment door as quietly as he could. The lamp next to the couch was on, and he could see Neela's peaceful form lying down, clearly asleep. The digital clock on the cable box on the TV read well after midnight. 

Setting his stuff down on a nearby chair, Ray went over and knelt next to Neela.

"Hey," he whispered softly, brushing some hair that had fallen onto her face away. "Neela," he whispered again. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Hi," she said softly. She yawned and made to sit up. "What time is it?"

"Late," Ray said, still whispering. "Why don't you stay here tonight?"

"Oh, I can't Ray, I—" he caught her words with a kiss "—have an early shift."

"Are you okay to drive like this?" Ray asked. "I can take you home if you want."

"No, I'll be fine," Neela said, stifling another yawn. "I just need a minute to wake up properly," she finished, giving Ray a meaningful look. He correctly interpreted this by kissing her again.

After a few moments, they broke apart. "I really should go," Neela said, "And if this continues, we both I know I won't go anywhere." She gathered her things and gave Ray one last quick kiss before walking out the door.

As soon as Neela left, Ray quietly went into Emily's room, expecting her to be in bed. He held back a snort of laughter as he saw her at her desk, bedroom lights blazing, with her head across her folded arms, fast asleep.

"Em," he whispered, "Em, wake up."

Her eyes flew open and her head snapped up, immediately disoriented. "What time is it?" she demanded wildly, blinking rapidly in the harsh light.

"Shh, shh," Ray said, having expected this sudden, jerky outburst. She always panicked slightly when awoken by anyone. "It's almost twelve-thirty, I just got in. Neela just left. Here, let's get you into bed." He cleared away her backpack and a few other items scattered across her floor, and swept some pens off of her bed.

"Good night Em," he whispered, turning out her lights and kissing her forehead.

* * *

The next morning as Ray stumbled into the kitchen to make coffee, he found Emily already eating a piece of toast and pouring over a notebook. 

"Cramming?" he asked blearily, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah," Emily said with way to much enthusiasm than Ray would afford anyone who had fallen asleep studying at their desk.

"So, we didn't get to talk last night. How did it go? With Neela, I mean."

"It was fine," Emily answered, turning a page in her notebook. "You know, things that needed to be said were said."

"Really? Well that's really good. Emily, I'm very proud of you. I mean it."

"Yeah. There's something I wanted to ask you, actually. See, there's a dance at my school next week, which I was planning on going to. Only I don't have a dress, so I was hoping I would go tomorrow—with Neela," she said slowly, knowing that she had said the magic words.

"Wh—well yeah, if she's not working. I don't think she is though. Wow, you've really had a change of heart about her, haven't you?" Ray said, sounding surprised as he poured some coffee beans into the grinder.

"Yeah, well, you know…" Emily trailed off. "Plus I know that if I asked you to take me, I'd end up with some frock that I'm sure must have been very fashionable around the last turn of the century, as well as in a convent."

"Point taken. So, are you going with anyone? Next month, I mean."

"No, just me, Lola, and some of our friends."

"Uh-huh," Ray said over the din of the grinder, but with a tone that suggested to Emily that he had some idea of Lola's "plan."

"So, can I go?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Sure," Ray agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_I can't believe I'm actually doing this_, Emily thought warily. She was shopping for a dress with Lola—and Neela.

"That talk was only the beginning, an introduction!" Lola had said encouragingly that morning. "Now you have to follow though, make an effort!"

"_I'm_ not dating her, my _brother_ is!" Emily had answered after Lola mentioned "following through" for the second time, but she didn't think Lola had gotten it.

So now, at Lola's insistence, as well as the fact that she was trying to make Ray happy, Emily and Neela were standing in the middle of Chicago's biggest department store, both looking utterly lost.

"Oh, come _on_!" Lola demanded, leading them into the throng of shoppers. She had accompanied them at Emily's request, who had established, point-blank, that she would not go with Neela alone.

As Neela allowed herself to be dragged off by an exuberant teenager, her thoughts flitted back to the conversation she'd had with Ray that morning…

"It won't be so bad, just try to have a good time."

"Ray, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do! I don't know the first thing about shopping sprees at the mall!" Neela had cried hysterically.

"Oh, come on, didn't you ever have an afternoon out with 'the girls' when you were young?" Ray asked, clearly believing that Neela was overreacting.

"That's just it, Ray! I didn't have any 'girls' growing up! I wasn't the social butterfly, head cheerleader, blue-eyed, blonde-haired prom queen bonbon you're used to dating!" Neela exploded. "Believe it or not, my weekends in high school were occupied by studying and the occasional family activity, all to cover up for the fact that I wasn't the prom queen, and that my phone never rang!"

Ray was stunned. Neela had never admitted any of this. Truth be told, he wasn't surprised, but there was something in the desperate way Neela had shouted everything that made him feel more uncomfortable than he'd ever felt in his life—and a little bit guilty.

"Look," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "You're right. But Neela, you are so much better! You are strong, independent, brilliant, and—" he tilted her chin up to look directly into her eyes "—you're beautiful. And look, high school sucks for anyone who's the least bit different. And if there is _anyone_ that I want around my little sister, it is _not_ the head cheerleader with her phone ringing off the ook with dozens of guys wanting to get into her bed—it's you Neela. You are an amazing role model, and the only woman I can see having a future with."

They stood in silence for a few moments, until Neela whispered "Thank you." She let out a huge breath, "It's just that sometimes I get flashbacks of how I felt when I was Emily's age—how unhappy I was, and how awkward I felt." She straightened up, "But I can do this."

Remembering her last words as Emily and Lola scampered ahead, she felt stronger.

* * *

"Oh my God." 

"You. Look. _Awesome_!"

"I can honestly say that I am too appalled for words."

"Calm down, you look great!"

"My brother's totally going to have his objects. _I'm_ totally going to have my objections!"

"Look, I promise it's not that bad. Neela, what do you think?"

Neela had been waiting outside the fitting room, half amused and half horrified at the conversation the two disembodied voices had been having. At Lola's inquiry, she stepped inside and joined them in the cramped quarters. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"_See_?" Emily shrieked to her friend. "I told you I couldn't pull this off!"

"No, no, it's not that," Neela said, recovering quickly. "I'm just surprised."

"Yeah, the dime-store hooker garb does that to people," Emily muttered darkly, desperately turning around to get a look at herself at an angle that didn't have "PROSTITUTE" written all over it.

"Emily, for God's sake, calm down," Lola ordered. "We'll find you something else."

"I think I saw something earlier," Neela broke in. "Why don't I go get it and have you try it on?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll really stand out now, seeing as it's probably the only dress left out there," Emily said.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

"This is it." 

"It's the one."

"Neela, you're a genius."

The three of them were looking at Emily in the mirror. The dress that Neela had picked out was perfect—it was lavender, strapless, the bodice formfitting and tapering into a skirt at the waist. The shape and material reminded Emily a little bit of a ballerina.

As Emily turned this way and that, all of the built-up resentment between her and Neela that had been slowly dissipating the past few days instantly vanished, suddenly a complete non-issue.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 

"For goodness' sake Ray, relax!" Neela choked through her laughter.

"Relax? _Relax?_ Neela, I send my sixteen-year-old sister—no, _impressionable_ sixteen-year-old sister out shopping with you, my level-headed, appropriate-minded girlfriend, and what do I get? I'll tell you what I get: said-impressionable sixteen-year-old flouncing home, showing me her new _strapless_ dress, to be worn in front of—you guessed it—her entire school!"

Neela managed to control her giggles—it wasn't easy, as Ray was pacing very hard back and forth, ranting loudly and waving his arms outrageously—and said, "Is _that_ what this is about? Ray, it's just strapless!"

Ray stopped and looked at her. "_Just_ strapless?" he asked thunderstruck. "Of course!" he exclaimed, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And do you know what that _means_? That means that my little sister—my _baby_ sister, even—will be traipsing around, in a dress held up by her—" he looked around wildly, then finished in a fierce whisper "—_breasts_!"

Neela laughed outright at that one. "God, Ray, it's not a bad word!"

Ray continued pacing. "Neela! That's not the point! I know what guys her age are after—believe me, I know. And—" he momentarily stopped, "—it's not like I'm really against her wearing a dress like that, it's just that…I don't want to see her hurt again. I know what that jerk dumping her did to her, and I just wish I could protect her from that happening again."

Neela approached him. "First," she began, "Are you through pacing? Because you almost knocked into me—twice." Ray flashed her a smile and nodded apologetically. "Second, I know you want to protect her, and you've done a great job of it these past few years, but she's growing up now. You've got to let her get out into the world—put herself out there—no, not like _that_," she said hurriedly, for Ray had just given her a look of horror. "But let her have her own life experiences, make her own mistakes, and then learn from them.

"And if one of her life experiences involves wearing a strapless dress, look, just be glad she didn't come home with the _other_ one."

Ray's head snapped up. "What?" he asked.

"Yeah, this other one that she tried on, which I'm sure would have sent you into a grand mal seizure. It was bright red, made of some material that I'm sure does not naturally appear in nature, mid-thigh in length, and quite revealing in the cleavage area, or, as you so aptly put it—_breasts_."

Ray looked horrified.

"For goodness' sake Ray, relax!" Neela said for the second time. "She didn't get it. _She_ said no, do you hear that? _She_ didn't like it! So I think that you can calm down a little bit, because she's got a good head on her shoulders."

Ray indeed looked a great deal calmer. "Well, I guess—I guess this one's not so bad then."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The week leading up to the dance was relatively uneventful for Emily, with the exception of the remarkable peace that had settled over the Barnett household; with Emily's newfound complete acceptance of Neela, everyone was a great deal calmer. Emily was content, as was Neela, who was still pleasantly surprised at the turn of events. Ray was very happy for both of them—and himself.

"So," Ray said to Emily before school early Friday morning, "Big day tomorrow, what are you planning?" he asked from behind the coffee pot.

"Well," Emily said as she dug through her backpack, "Lola and I figured we'd turn this place into Dance Preparation Central—hair, make-up, the whole bit—aha! Found it!" she announced triumphantly as she withdrew her graphing calculator.

"Now when you say 'Preparation Central,'" Ray asked uneasily, "Do you mean—?"

"—Don't worry, you're off the hook," Emily said as she dove into her bag once more. "In fact, I checked your schedule, and you're working all day. And it needs to stay that way—" she shot him a significant look, "We can't have any testosterone messing with the ambiance."

"Huh?" Ray asked, shooting Emily a quizzical look.

"Nothing," Emily answered, although she had been award of Lola's schoolgirl crush on Ray for some time.

"And since when do you check my schedule?" Ray asked, further confused.

"Never mind that, I have my ways," Emily answered craftily.

Ray shrugged behind his coffee cup, muttering "The less I know…" as he walked back to his room. "Are you almost ready to leave?" he asked from his doorway

"Couple more minutes," Emily called back desperately, still pawing through her bag's contents.

"You know," Ray called thoughtfully, "You might not have to do this frantic search for your stuff every morning if you got your school stuff ready _the night before_."

"Okay, you are _so_ not helping, and second, you're hardly one to talk, Mr. Have-You-Seen-My-Hair-Gel!" Emily called back as she victoriously produced her cell phone.

* * *

That day at lunch, the table that Emily and Lola usually shared with a couple other friends had attracted several more girls, all intent on discussing their plans for the following night. 

"You have _got_ to see the dress Em got!" Lola was telling everyone excitedly. "She is _totally_ going to get him back for being such a dick!"

As if on cue, all heads turned to glare at Brandon's table. Emily groaned inwardly; it felt great to have her friends rally around her like this, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was a situation playing out line-by-line from a stereotypical teeny bopper chick flick.

Emily cleared her throat, "Hey guys, let's talk about someone else for a few minutes. Ari, are you going with Jason?"

The girl sitting across from Emily nodded excitedly. "He _finally_ agreed last week—dances aren't really his thing…" she trailed off as a sudden hush fell over the table.

Emily rolled her eyes at what she thought was simpering melodrama until she realized that everyone was staring at her. "Huh?" she asked, until an all-to-familiar voice caused her to whip around.

"Hey Emily."

Emily met Brandon's eyes. "Hi," she answered back slowly.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you, for just a minute?" he asked earnestly. "Alone?" he added, as he was met with various glares and looks of suspicion.

"Well, um," she panicked and looked at Lola, who shook her head almost imperceptivity. Ignoring this, she stood up. "Um, okay," she said, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

Emily followed Brandon as he led her out of the cafeteria, into a hall usually teeming with students, but that was now almost empty.

"So," Brandon began awkwardly. It flitted across Emily's mind that, despite her bitter resentment for this boy who had cruelly broken her heart, he seemed remarkably sweet. She began to mentally berate herself for allowing herself to think such a thing when he interrupted her thoughts.

"Emily," Brandon began again, "I want to apologize. I know that I was a jerk when I broke up with you, and I know that you deserve much better than me, but I was wondering if maybe…you would give me another…chance?" he asked solemnly, shuffling uncomfortably.

Emily could have sworn her heart had frozen for a split second when he uttered those last few words. She quickly regained control of all crucial bodily functions and before she quite knew what she was doing, heard herself saying, "Brandon, that is _such a_—"

He looked at her hopefully.

"—_load of crap!_ What, do you think that if you call me out in front of all of my friends and say a few well-chosen words of remorse, I'll just take you back? Just like _that_? Unbelievable! What about your string of skanks, you know, your Girlfriends of the Week? What are you going to tell me next? That the meaningless sex wasn't enough, and now you want to come back to me for a _real_ relationship? You know what, Brandon? _Grow up_!"

As Emily turned on her heel to leave, she swiftly added over her shoulder, "You were right about one thing though: I _do_ deserve better!"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"—and then I just turned around and walked away, and as I left, I said, 'You were right, I _do_ deserve better!'" Emily finished triumphantly into the phone after telling her story to Lola for the second time.

There was an appreciative silence from Lola's end until she said in a hushed tone filled with awe, "Emily Barnett, you're my hero."

They both cracked up. It was late on Friday night, and the two girls had been recapping the days' events and mapping their battle plan for the preparation for the dance the following day. Ray had been called in at the last minute to work a late shift, so Emily was home alone. She twirled the tassels of a throw pillow on the couch between her fingers as she talked on the phone—one of Neela's influences. Neela had introduced Ray to the joys of in-home decorating, and his subscription to Pottery Barn's catalogue had turned up a number of new useful and decorative accessories.

"—I should really go," Lola was saying. "The last thing I want tomorrow is to look like a raccoon that hasn't slept for days."

"You're right, I should go to be too. What time are you coming over tomorrow?"

"Sometime early afternoon…I'm not too sure, I'll call you."

"That's fine. Goodnight!"

"'night!"

Emily yawned widely as she hung up the phone. She looked at the clock—quarter after eleven. _It would be really stupid to not go to bed, Emily_, she mentally reminded herself. Still, putting Brandon in his place the way she had done had really put her on a high that she couldn't seem to come off of, and she had a feeling that any attempts to sleep—at least for right now—would be useless.

She continued playing with the pillow's tassels and let her mind wander. _Emily, think about it. Remember yourself a couple of months ago? You were so happy and so relieved when you thought that he had understood that you wanted to wait to do anything with him. And then what happened? A few short weeks later, he completely smashed all happiness when he _dumped _you to go shack up with anything that offered his ego the promise of relief. And now what? He came back to _you_. You won! And you didn't even need to wear your beautiful dress to do it. You kept your pride and your dignity. You won! _With a final smile, Emily had a feeling she'd now be able to fall asleep.

* * *

When Ray finally unlocked the door to the apartment, he didn't want to think about what time it was. He'd been on his feet since mid-afternoon, and the enormous car pile-up that had found its way to the ER had ensured that he hadn't been able to take any breaks. He trudged into his room, not bothering to remove his clothes as he collapsed onto the bed. His eyes fell onto his guitar resting in its stand, and he groaned inwardly. He'd meant to call the guys and tell them he would have to cancel tonight, but all of the critical cases coming into County had driven any mental notes from his mind. They had planned on using his first Friday night off in weeks to play together—no gig, just a jam session. 

"Damn," he muttered, before his eyes became to heavy to care. With a sinking feeling he realized he had another early shift in the morning. He forced himself up to make sure his alarm clock was set. With another jolt, he realized that it was only a little after midnight—not nearly as late as he'd played it up in his head to be.

* * *

Emily dragged herself out of bed at the not-to-be-dragged hour of ten. She stumbled into the bathroom where she intended to size up the damage, in terms of dark circles and pimples, when she found a note taped to the mirror. 

_Em—_

_You're still asleep so I'm not going to bother you. Sorry about not getting to see you last night, I know you'll be at the dance by the time I get home tonight. Neela said she'd be happy to drop you and Lola off if you need her to. Have fun, see you when you get back!_

_Love, Ray_

After Emily detected minimal damage on her face she trekked into the kitchen to look for something in the way of breakfast. The compulsive organizer in her told her that she should make some sort of list detailing all the preparation to be done, but a large yawn put that idea out of her head. She settled for putting some cereal into a bowl and stirring it thoughtfully while she put together a mental listed everything she needed to do. _Hmm…let's see…well, in order of importance…take a shower, shaving socially acceptable and appropriate parts of my person…gaze lovingly at my dress…call Lola…_

"Okay! I'm here!" a loud voice announced several hours later at the front door from behind a mass of tulle and two large cases.

Emily hurried over to take the cases from Lola as she emerged from a tangle of satin ribbon that had somehow looped itself around her neck.

"Hi—jeez, what do have in these, a dismembered body?" Emily asked as she felt the weight of both boxes.

"Of course not, just, you know, the usual stuff," Lola called cheerfully over her shoulder as she flounced across the apartment toward Emily's room.

Still struggling with Lola's cases in the living room, Emily groaned. It was going to be a _long_ afternoon.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Just when Emily was sure she wouldn't be able to deal with any more of Lola's primping tips and declarations of her fondness for eyelash curlers and blow dryers, they were finished getting ready and finally on their way to the dance. Lola chattered constantly throughout the car ride, but whether it was to Neela's great annoyance or great amusement, Emily couldn't tell.

"Okay girls," Neela said when she pulled up to the curb. "You both look beautiful. Lola, are you sure you won't need a ride home?"

"No, thank you," Lola said as she climbed out of the car.

"Okay. Emily, Ray will pick you up sometime after his shift ends. Just call when you're ready."

"Thanks Neela, see you later!" Emily called as she too climbed out of the car. Together, she and Lola followed the other students that were slowly filtering out of their own cars and trickling toward the big building ahead.

Emily was blown away at the sight of their normally fluorescent-lit, sweaty school gym. Soft light glowed from the dozens of lanterns that had been strung on to wires that stretched end-to-end across the room. Much of the gym's floor space was being used as a dance floor, with half of the students engaged in varying degrees of enthusiastic dancing. The other half of students who weren't dancing were either hovering awkwardly on the sides with their partners, or else talking animatedly with their friends.

"So…do you want to…?" Lola asked, inclining her head uncertainly toward the dance floor. Emily shook her head.

"Not yet. Look, there's Ari," Emily said.

They walked across the gym to their friend, and as they reached her she was joined by her date, Jason.

"Hey," Emily greeted both of them. "You guys look great. Have you seen anyone else?"

"I saw Ramona when we came in—she _did_ come with David," Ari lowered her voice conspiratorially, and the three girls exchanged quick, wide-eyed looks. After a moment of this, Ari continued, "And, Emily, I also saw Brandon…he's alone."

This time the quick looks were directed at Emily, clearly waiting for her response. She shrugged them off. "Hey, look, he's not my problem anymore, and he knows that. Let's please just forget about him and enjoy tonight."

An hour later, after a string of the usual school dance songs, the DJ called out, in Sadie Hawkins fashion, "Ladies only!" and within moments the dance floor was completely filled with girls, from freshmen to upperclassmen. Emily, Lola, and Ari were joined by a couple of their other friends as the obligatory Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" was pumped through the speakers.

From the center of their tight dance circle, Emily glanced at the wooden bleachers on the side of the gym, where most of the boys had grouped, waiting to return to their dates. As she was about to turn her attention back to her friends, something caught her eye. She looked up again and saw Brandon, standing next to the bleachers like all the other guys, but quite alone and apart from anyone else. It took her a second to realize what had made her look up again, and she realized that it was because he was looking at her as well. He wasn't glaring at her—it wasn't an angry look. Instead, it seemed empty and hollow. With an unnerving jolt, she wondered how long he'd been staring at her. Determined to push him out of her mind, she mentally berated herself. _Get a grip, Emily, don't let him freak you out. He's just looking at what he can't have…the only thing empty or hollow about him is his brain. _With that, Emily turned back to her friends.

Following the all-girls dance were a few slow songs, and Emily and Lola sat them out. Emily opted not to tell Lola about the weird feeling she thought she'd gotten from Brandon looking at her—she was trying to convince herself that she had played it up in her mind, and she had a feeling that Lola's tendency to exhaustingly dissect All Things Brandon could have the opposite effect. Instead, she turned to Lola and said, "It's getting pretty stuffy in here, I think I'll go outside and get some air."

Lola turned to her quizzically. "Okay, want me to come?"

Emily shook her head. "No, it's okay. Besides, I think George might want you to ask him to dance with him." It was true, Emily had noticed the boy that neither one of them knew too well glancing at Lola every so often from his own set of bleachers across the room.

Lola hesitated. "Do you think I should?" she asked uncertainly. "I mean, you're here alone, are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Please, do it for Sadie. I'll be fine, back in a few minutes, I just want to step outside for a few minutes," Emily insisted.

"All right, see you later Em," Lola said as the both stood up. "Wish me luck!" she whispered hurriedly.

"Good luck," Emily laughed as she turned toward the door.

Once outside, the din from the gym lessened considerably. Emily sat down on a bench usually reserved for jocks and kicked off her shoes. It was a warm night, but the air outside was much cooler than the air in the gym.

"This formal dress business, it's not for everyone," Emily said to herself as she used her thumbs to knead the arches in her feet. After she'd spent a few moments outside, she strapped her shoes on again and went inside. When she'd slipped back into the gym, she saw Lola and George dancing together, and grinned slightly to herself.

Emily wound past the dance floor and the tentative couples grouped around it as she made her way toward the bathroom. She dodged one couple making out, clearly enjoying the dance for entirely different reasons, and went into the adjacent hallway. When she pulled open the door to the girl's bathroom, she was relieved to be the only one in there.

After washing her hands, she dabbed at the shiny spots on her face with a damp paper towel. Fishing in her bag for more mascara and lip gloss, she took no notice when the bathroom door was opened again. Unscrewing the mascara wand from its tube, she caught sight of someone else's reflection in the mirror with a start. With a gasp, she spun on her heel so quickly that she knocked her purse onto the floor. Eyes wide, she took a step backward and found herself backed up against the mirror.

_"Wh-what are you doing in here?"_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was Brandon.

"Hey Em," he said softly, taking one step closer to her.

"_Brandon, what are you doing in here?_" Emily repeated.

"Look, Emily, I just want to talk, okay?" Brandon said as Emily shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes darted toward the door.

"Brandon, this is really not the place, you're not even supposed to be in here!" Emily exclaimed, her voice slightly higher than usual.

"This is the only place that we can talk alone," Brandon said, in the same soft voice. There was no trace of menace in his voice, but Emily found his very presence in the bathroom with her threatening. He continued, "You're always with your friends, or—"

"We talked yesterday, in the hall," Emily interrupted.

"Yes, and that's what I'm here about," Brandon said. "I didn't like the way we left things."

"The way we _left things_? Brandon, we didn't leave _anything_! We're done! It's over, and I've moved on. Now please, get out," Emily said, pointing toward the door. Brandon caught her arm.

"Brandon, you're really freaking me out now."

"I don't mean to scare you, I'm just trying to tell you that I've changed, Em."

"_Let go of me_."

"I can't. I can't stop thinking about you," Brandon said, almost desperately. With his other hand he ran his fingers distractedly through his hair.

"And you think cornering me in the bathroom away from everyone else is the best place to tell me this? _Brandon, let go of my arm!_" Emily demanded once more trying to wrench it from his grasp, aware of the music from the dance thumping uncomfortably loudly.

"Emily, please, I'm just trying to explain," said Brandon frantically.

"_My arm!_" Emily struggled, and all at once Brandon dropped it as though it had burned him.

Emily groped blindly for her purse on the floor, not taking her eyes off of Brandon, whose eyes she thought had become suddenly panicked. Her fingers twisted and searched, but unable to find anything, she gave up and made to run, flat-out for the door.

She made a few steps, but her feet, sore from dancing, and unaccustomed to running in heels, made her lose her balance as she attempted to duck around Brandon. Feeling sure that she had twisted something, she tried to get up from her crumpled position on the floor. She saw Brandon make a move as though to help her, but she uttered a small scream until suddenly everything went dark.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

As the last song of the dance died out, Lola was caught completely off-guard as George planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. He smiled at her. "I'll see you Monday," he said before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Lola swayed on the spot, temporarily stunned, happiness flowing through her. When she came to her senses, she had only one thought: _I've got to tell Em!_

Still a little bit dazed, she dodged other students on the dance floor, still revolving silently to their own personal music. _Where did she go?_

"Hey, Ari!" Lola called over the heads of several students making their ways to the exit. Ari, who'd been among them, turned at the sound of her name.

"Hey, what's up? I saw you and George out there, you looked like you were having a pretty good time!" Ari exclaimed with a wink.

"Oh my gosh, I had the _best_ time with him, you have no idea! He's so sweet, I can't believe I never _really_ noticed him before! I mean, he's—"

"—_Very _hot?" Ari interjected.

Lola nodded, her eyes sparkling. "And he kissed me good-night!" she squealed.

"_What? _Shut up, where?"

Lola pointed to the now-sacred spot on her cheek. "I am _flipping out_. Have you seen Emily? I need to tell her!"

"You mean she doesn't know yet? How is that possible, the two of you are like—"

"Inseparable? Yeah, but I haven't seen her since I started dancing with George, actually."

"Sorry, I haven't seen her either," Ari said. "I have to go, but if I see her on my way out I'll tell her you're looking for her, okay?"

"That'd be great, thanks," Lola said before turning back into the fast-emptying gym. She scanned the stragglers, growing more confused and slightly annoyed. _Where did she go? Could she have left already? If I don't tell her everything soon I am going to burst!_

Struck with an idea, Lola headed toward the bathroom.

_She wouldn't be in the one in the hall though, it's too far out of the way, I'd have seen her leave! _Lola hesitated. _Oh well, you never know_.

As Lola entered the deserted hallway outside the gym, for a fleeting moment she considered going back. There was no one in this part of the school, and surely Emily wouldn't have had to pee _this_ desperately? Nevertheless, she proceeded to the bathroom, the heels of her shoes clacking loudly on the floor.

When she pushed the door open, her foot connected with something small, and she caught sight of a tube of lipstick skidding across the tiles. Then her eye caught something bright—dress fabric that she would have recognized anywhere. With a terrifying jolt, she instantly recognized the person lying unconscious, sprawled across the floor.

"_Oh my God, Emily!"_

* * *

Ray sat at the desk in the ER, eyes glazing over the charts that he had spread in front of him. He stifled a yawn. _I've got to get out of here_, he thought tiredly. 

"Barnett!"

Ray jerked his head up, out of his stupor. The authoritarian voice, it couldn't be—

"Dr. Weaver! What are you doing down here in our humble abode?" Ray asked, attempting a false cheeriness that clashed with the darkness under his eyes.

"I was about to ask you that, your shift ended an hour ago."

"Charting," Ray answered, failing to hide his next yawn.

"Well in that case, you can take the next trauma that just came over the radio. Teenage girl, found unconscious."

"But Dr. Weaver—I really should get going," Ray attempted a lame protest.

"No buts, Barnett. Pratt's late, so this one's yours. ETA's three minutes."

"Fine," Ray grumbled as he pushed his charts aside and walked out toward the ambulance bay. "Sam, can you join me on this next trauma?" he called as he passed her in the hall.

"Sure, what are you still doing here, Ray?" Sam asked as he joined him.

"Not leaving, apparently," he answered as they stood outside in the cold night air, listening as ambulance sirens grew stronger. Lights flashed as it came into view from around the corner.

Ray listened as a paramedic jumped out of the back. "Teenage girl, approximately 16 years old, found unconscious at a school dance. Vitals are steady, but weak…"

The rest of the paramedic's report was drowned out by the pounding, rushing sound in his head as the patient was rolled out of the ambulance on a stretcher. With a sickening feeling, he recognized first her dress, then her hair. Her face was obscured by a breathing mask, but there was no question.

It was Emily.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

He couldn't breathe. Time seemed to stand still. His insides seemed to be frozen. Fear and panic began to flood into every inch of his body. The paramedics were still talking, but he couldn't hear them. He watched mutely as Sam looked at him questioningly. Everyone was looking at him. He couldn't understand why everything was happening so slowly. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Didn't they realize that this was Emily, his _little sister_, on the gurney? He saw Sam look down at their patient, comprehension dawning on her face. _Finally_, he thought. He opened his mouth, trying to tell them to move, trying to tell them that they had to get Emily inside, but nothing came out. Thoughts were speeding through his mind, but his body was still too stunned to react. Furious with himself, he wrenched his body into motion, and as he did, he felt adrenaline rushing through him, putting him in command of the situation.

"Let's get her inside!" he called commandingly, thankful that he was in control once more. Everyone followed, and Emily's unconscious form was quickly rolled through the ambulance entrance, past the desk, and toward the waiting trauma room.

The paramedic started talking again, and this time Ray heard every word. "Her friend found her in the bathroom and yelled for someone to call 911, no apparent signs of trauma, hasn't regained consciousness."

"Barnett, do you need any help?" Morris asked, joining them in the hallway. Ray didn't answer, his eyes locked on the trauma room ahead, one hand pushing the rail of the gurney, and the other clasped around his sister's.

"It's Emily," Sam said quietly to Morris. Out of the corner of his eye, Ray saw the same comprehension that had come over Sam now coming over Morris' face as they reached the trauma room.

"On my count," Ray said as everyone took up sides. "One…two…three."

As everyone swarmed on their patient and the chaos unfolded in front of him, Ray suddenly felt removed once more, like he had back in the ambulance bay. He fought to stay on top of the situation, but as he watched IV lines being started and Morris barking orders to trauma nurses, panic overtook him again.

"Vitals?" Morris' voice cut in.

"BP's 100 over 60, pulse 50, resps 10," Sam recited from the monitor.

_Too low_, Ray thought helplessly as a nurse pushed passed him.

"Ray, could she have taken something?"

He shook his head as a whole new set of horrifying thoughts came to him.

Morris was talking to him, but he couldn't answer. He tried desperately to switch back into doctor-mode, but he couldn't.

Morris must have noticed this. "Chuny," he said, nodding at Ray. Chuny immediately peeled off her gloves and was at Ray's side.

"Come on, let's go wait outside," she said, putting an arm around him.

He tried to protest. "I can't, I have to stay with her."

Chuny shook her head. "Let them work, you're not thinking clearly right now."

"Chuny, she's my sister!"

"I know." Her voice was soothing. "You just stay here, we'll bring you back as soon as we know something, and I'll have Frank call Neela for you."

"Neela," he said helplessly, his memory sparking, "Neela's supposed to be picking her up!"

"It's okay, we'll take care of it," Chuny said, gently leading him away from the commotion and into an empty exam room.

"Please," Ray said as Chuny sat him down. "Tell me what's going on, can you go check on her?"

"Of course, but you can't—"

"I'll stay here," Ray added hastily. "Chuny, just please, go."

With a last look behind her, Chuny left Ray in the exam room. As soon as she was gone, Ray leapt up and began pacing across the room, feeling as all the family members that he'd ever ordered out of a trauma room must have felt.

The door to the exam room banged open and Ray looked up to see Neela, her eyes wide and worried.

"Lola called me just as I was about to leave to pick her up—she said she found her unconscious. Frank said you were in here. How is she? Where is she?" Neela said, everything tumbling out in a rush.

Ray ran a hand through his hair frantically. "She's in the trauma room, they're working on her. They told me to wait in here. Did Lola say anything else? Could she have been…?" He trailed off. "Neela, you have to go in with her."

Neela looked at him. "Okay," she said seriously. "Are _you_ okay?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, I'm just…I don't know. I'll be fine. Just go help her!"

"I'm going right now. Ray, she's going to be all right."

As she left, Ray continued pacing, hating more than ever this helplessness that had suddenly settled over his life.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It had felt like hours since Emily had been brought in and Ray had been cooped up alone in the exam room. At some point he had abandoned the pacing, and had taken to sitting numbly on the corner of the bed, staring listlessly at a point on the wall across from him. This was a sharp contrast to what was happening in his mind, which had not stopped buzzing with terrifying thoughts since Neela left.

Horrifying ideas of comas and brain damage filled his head, but the worst—the very worst—was that someone could have…he could barely admit the word even to himself…_raped_ his little sister.

A quiet knock interrupted his inner torment; Neela had opened it gently, clutching a cup of cafeteria coffee, which she offered to him.

"I brought this for you; I know it's from the cafeteria, but still."

He took it gratefully, his eyes imploring her to sit down beside him. After taking a sip of the scalding coffee, he managed to croak, "How is she?"

After Neela had settled herself beside him, she took a deep breath, as though stalling for time to contemplate what she should say. When she spoke, it was a voice that Ray painfully recognized as her "doctor voice"—right now she wasn't his girlfriend, he wasn't her colleague, and they weren't talking about the girl Neela had taken dress shopping. Emily was a patient, Ray was her family, and Dr. Rasgotra was updating the family about the patient's condition. He didn't recognize this situation, and it continued to scare him.

"She's in the ICU. She's stable," Neela began. "She's still unconscious, and we're monitoring her very closely. She had a head CT, but there's been no evidence of brain swelling. Ray, these are encouraging results," she said.

Ray had listened to these things told to him. Neela was right: this was encouraging. But she had not answered the one question that was the most sickening of all. He looked at her, pleading with his eyes for her to answer, knowing that he had barely been able to spell out the word for himself, and that it would be impossible for him to verbalize it to another person.

Miraculously, in Ray's eyes, Neela had understood what he wanted to know. She continued, "There appears to be no external signs of sexual assault. We'll have to wait for her to tell us the whole story, but I don't think she was." She placed a hand softly on his shoulder, feeling some of the tension leave his body.

"What do we do know?" he asked.

"Now we wait," she said simply. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs." She stood up, and held out her hand for Ray to take. He clutched it, craving the reassurance it offered.

As they walked through the hallway, he caught the sympathetic looks his coworkers were giving him. As they reached the elevator, dread began to mount in him. Despite everything that Neela had said, he was worried that he wouldn't be prepared for what was waiting for him in the ICU. The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival, and they patiently waited for its occupants to file out. When they stepped inside, they were alone. They rode up the floors in silence. Ray tried to concentrate on the numbers that lit up as they past each respective floor, but he couldn't empty any of the dread that continued to collect in him.

When at last, and much too soon, the elevator reached its destination, they walked out, still holding hands. Neela turned right, and Ray followed. Walking past the other rooms, their occupants on ventilators, heart machines beeping independently of one another, Ray felt a new feeling mount inside him. Spotting a trash can a few feet in front of him, he bolted toward it, threw back the lid, and proceeded to vomit.

This wasn't entirely unexpected for Neela. As she watched the man she cared so deeply for continue to wretch, she placed her hands on his back, rubbing and squeezing, trying to offer comfort and reassurance. After a few minutes it subsided, and Ray emerged, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. A passing nurse pointed them in the direction of the nearest bathroom.

Neela waited outside as Ray went into the bathroom alone. She heard more coughing, and then the sound of water running. Finally the door opened again and Ray stepped out, looking fresher but more tired than ever.

"Let's go," she said in a low voice, guiding him to Emily's room.

As they entered her room, Neela had expected Ray to contract, to shrink away. He surprised her though. The sight of his little sister, lying almost lifeless, consumed by tubing and amid beeps and whirls of machinery, seemed to spur him into action. He looked a little bit stronger, more determined. He pulled the chair in the room right up to her bed and planted himself on it. He clasped the hand that did not have the I.V. running into it into his own, and settled himself in for a long night.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. Hours, definitely, but he didn't know how many. The rest of the floor seemed quiet; it was dark outside, and other than the occasional footsteps that sounded outside the door, the hallways were empty. He thought he might have nodded off to sleep at some point, but didn't know when or for how long it had been. All he knew was that now he was perfectly content to sit at her bedside.

Two nights had passed since the night of the dance, and Ray hadn't left Emily's bedside in the ICU for more than ten minutes at a time. He had gotten so used to the constant beeping of the various machines around the room that he didn't really notice them anymore, but he would instinctively check them periodically to reassure himself that his sister was fine—or at least, alive.

Intense feelings of guilt were only just now truly beginning to hit him. At first, he had felt as though he was operating on autopilot as worry flooded him. Now though, after processing everything, after taking up residence in the ICU, he was feeling incredibly guilty. Wild thoughts chased each other in his head, mostly irrational. _This is all my fault—I should have never let her do this. I should have gone to the dance to pick her up myself. I could have prevented this. Oh god, if she's not okay, I don't know what I'm going to do._

The most upsetting thing to him was the fact that he still didn't know entirely what had happened to her—no one did, and probably wouldn't until Emily had woken up. A rape kit had been performed, in spite of the lack of external trauma. The results had come back negative for any fluids, which had been one of the single largest feelings of relief Ray could ever remember feeling. Of course, this still didn't tell the whole story—why she had ended up on the bathroom floor at her school in the first place. Ray felt certain that Brandon was somehow involved, which was why he had been especially concerned about Emily being assaulted. After speaking with Lola, he learned that Brandon had been present at the dance, but that she didn't remember Emily or Brandon having contact with one another.

Ray had noted that his sister's best friend seemed to be taking Emily's condition almost as badly as he was. He knew that Lola had been the one to find her, and couldn't imagine what kind of effect that must have been having on her. He assumed she was experiencing some of the same feelings of guilt that he was—of wishing she could have been there sooner, of deep regret and worry. He had tried to offer words of comfort, but could barely find them within himself. He had settled on offering his heartfelt thanks to her for doing her part. "Doing what you did might have saved her life," he told her as silent tears rolled down Lola's cheeks and she held Emily's hand.

A soft knock interrupted his anguish. He looked up and saw Neela hovering in the doorway.

"How is she?" Neela asked gently, still standing at the door, as though unsure whether or not she would be intruding by coming closer.

"The same," Ray answered automatically, the same way he had answered everyone who had asked him that question since Emily had been admitted. "She's stable, all her labs and scans are coming back normal."

"That's really good Ray," Neela said. She approached him cautiously, but he hadn't seemed to notice. He looked terrible, she noted, as though he hadn't slept in a week. "How are _you_?" she asked, taking in his pale features and wrinkled clothes. "Have you slept or showered, or at least changed your clothes?"

"What?—Oh, yeah," he answered, somewhat distractedly. "Yeah, I grabbed these scrubs last night off of the linen cart."

Neela now pulled up a chair next to him. He didn't make any real acknowledgment that she was there, and seemed startled when she put her hand on his shoulder. "Ray, I think you should go home," she said quietly, unsure of how he would react.

He looked at her incredulously. "What? No! I can't leave her alone, Neela!"

"You won't have to, I'll stay and sit with her," Neela volunteered.

Ray opened his mouth to protest, but it might have been the sheer exhaustion that made him close it feebly. "Are you sure?" he asked finally.

"Ray, please," Neela said. "I'll be fine, and Emily will be fine. Just go home and rest for a few hours, all right? I promise I'll call you if there are any changes."

Ray stood up tentatively, as though weighing his options and torn between the two of them. "Okay," he said finally. "I'll be back in two hours." He bent down over Emily's bed and smoothed her hair back before kissing the top of her head. "I'll see you in a little while baby girl, I promise." He turned back to Neela. "You're sure?" he asked again, and she nodded, still in her chair, but she rose to meet him.

"Just take care of yourself—you look bloody awful, you know that, don't you?" she said. He tried to give her a lopsided grin in response, but it came out as a yawn. "We'll see you soon," she said as she hugged him good-bye.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

When Ray walked in through the door of his apartment, one look around told him just how long it had been since he'd been home last. The last time that he'd left, he had been rushing off to work, cutting it very close for his all-day Saturday shift. That had been three days ago, when Emily and Lola had been getting ready for the dance. Assorted make-up, curling irons, and the odd eyelash curler had crept into each and every corner of the apartment, and Ray felt another lurch of guilt when he pictured their owner, his sister, helpless in a hospital bed.

He knew that while he was home, he should really try to get some rest—to recharge. A feeling of helplessness, very similar to when Emily had contracted mononucleosis, had settled over him. After all, what the hell good was a medical degree, to be a practicing physician, if his sister was lying unconscious and there was nothing he could do about it? He thought about his mother, and how he had been appointed Emily's guardian after her death. He couldn't quite formulate his thoughts into words, but a voice in his head seemed to be driving in the point that his sister had now had two serious health problems while under his care. _Do I even have any right to continue raising this girl?_

He hated himself the moment he allowed himself to think such a thing, partly because it struck a nerve that he felt that he had been trying to identify for a very long time. He had put her through so much during her childhood: with his career, he felt like he'd never been able to fully devote himself to her as she grew up, the way he knew that she deserved. And Neela—he was so happy that the three of them had finally stated to function more like a normal family. It hadn't been a secret to anyone that it was more than tension that had existed between Emily and Neela. But still—was a potentially distracting situation really what Emily needed right now, as she fought to recover? Ray and Neela's relationship was steadily progressing, and they both had been dropping hints at the possibility of her moving in with him. Was now really the time for such a big change? Ray didn't know, and instead groaned audibly and brought his fingers to his temples and rubbed them in slow circles.

As he moved toward his bedroom, carefully stepping over a mess of hair brushes, Ray briefly considered using this time to clean the apartment. He pushed away the idea, and making sure that his door was open enough to hear the phone, Ray collapsed onto his bed.

* * *

Neela sat in Emily's room in the ICU, absorbed in her thoughts. She hypnotically watched the monitor as Emily's heart beat in a strong, steady rhythm. Ray had left almost an hour ago, and she hoped he wouldn't be back for several more—he truly needed the break. 

She knew Ray. She had known him well for a long time, and she had gotten to know him infinitely better throughout their relationship. She knew how guilty he must be feeling, and she knew that he was most likely thinking of ways that he could fix things.

She had an idea that one of those ways might involve her. After all, it would be just like Ray, she reasoned, to cut the most distracting part of his life out, in order to focus on the task at hand. She didn't necessarily disagree with this logic, but she most certainly disagreed with the conclusion.

A knock on the door made Neela jump. She looked up and saw Abby, smiling apologetically at having startled her.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Abby asked, taking a seat beside Neela.

"No change. She's stable, though," Neela answered.

"That's good. How long have you been up here with her?"

"About an hour. I finally made Ray go home," Neela said, stifling a yawn.

"You're sounding pretty beat yourself," Abby said, squeezing her friend's arm. "What have you been thinking about up here to keep yourself occupied?"

"Nothing, really. Just sorting some things out, I guess," Neela responded, afraid that if Abby continued to talk to her she would end up verbalizing her latest series of thoughts. She didn't know if she could handle hearing them said out loud.

"Like what?" Abby asked.

_Sure enough_, Neela thought to herself. She considered lying, but realized quickly that she didn't have the strength to do so. To her horror, she felt her mouth begin to quiver.

"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Abby asked in alarm.

"It's just—" Neela fought hard to regain her composure, "I think Ray's going to break up with me!" she sniffed.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Abby, incredulously, asked in a soothing voice.

"I know him. I know that right now he's really frightened, and he's thinking that the only way he can make his sister better is by throwing himself into her care, and he doesn't think that I'll be a good person to have around while he's doing that!"

"But Neela," Abby reasoned, "You and Emily have been getting along so much better lately. He knows that the two of you are much closer, there's no way he would want to take you away from Emily if you could be of any help to her recovery!"

"_I_ know that, I just don't know if Ray does," Neela answered quietly.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The sane, rational part of her brain knew that she was perfectly safe, and most definitely alive, because she could hear voices speaking. And they were definitely talking about normal, living-human-being things. Not death-and-angels things.

Despite the fact that it was mostly all medical jargon, and was probably about her.

The panicky part of her argued back that being the subject of medical jargon was hardly a "safe" position to be in, once one factored in the reason for the jargon in the first place. And besides, how could she so sure that, with her luck, she hadn't simply been relegated to the medical jargon-themed pearly gates? Like, maybe the afterlife was themed, based on one's profession during the course of their life: there was the Law Heaven, for all of the ex lawyers and judge types, and the Medical Heaven, for all of the ex doctors and nurses. And everyone sat around and spoke jargon to one another, and welcomed the next soul to their death circle.

If that was the case, someone made a mistake. She didn't belong in the Medical Heaven—she was morbidly afraid of needles, for one thing, and she was almost certain that that would be frowned upon. For another thing, her brother was the medical type in the family. She wondered just who was in charge of heaven around here, and could they please see to her being transferred to the heaven for High School students?

And then she realized just how ridiculous all of this was, because, among other things, no one in their right _mind_ would think that there could be such a thing as High School Heaven.

At this point, Emily realized that if she was, in fact, dead, she should probably be able to see a whole lot more. Wherever she was, it was very dark, and so far, slightly disappointing. She then reverted back to her original sane, rational thinking that she was most definitely (hopefully) still alive.

She decided to try to dissect some of the jargon for clues as to where exactly she might be. In fact, now that she concentrated on it, some of it didn't sound like medical jargon at all—in fact, it sounded liked normal speech, and those voices might even have been kind of familiar—

And then she heard someone say her name, and she became simultaneously filled with a hopeful joy and a crushing dread: either she was still alive, and hearing people talking about her, or she was dead, and people were still talking about her.

"—obviously Emily should be his first priority, he wouldn't be Ray if she were anything less. But I hope that he realizes that I could have a place in his life too….We've both tried so damn hard for this to work, and I'm just so worried that he'll see that work as an enormous barrier that we miraculously fought through, instead of a testament to how much we care about each other."

"Neela, I'm sure he doesn't think that. Ray knows how right each of you are for each other, and I _know_ he knows how much you care about each other. I'm sure that you're probably right, in that Emily is going to be taking up a lot of his attention right now. But the fact is that she's _always_ going to be a major presence in his life, and he knows that he can't just hide behind her as a reason to prevent himself from having any other meaningful relationships in his life."

"But Abby, _just say_—"

"All that I am _going_ to say is that Ray and Emily are in the middle of a very traumatic experience right now, and I know that you're scared, but I really don't think that Ray is going to end things just because things are so difficult right now. You're one of the closest people in his life right now, and I don't think that his first reaction would be to push you away."

Neela and Abby. Emily was overhearing the conversation of Neela and Abby. This made Emily feel much better, not the least of which was being referred to in the present tense. As in, the not-dead tense.

"—how much longer do you think he'll be at home, anyway? Did he say what time he was coming back?" Abby's voice asked.

"He said he'd only be gone for a couple of hours—but I imagine it should be any minute now," the voice of Neela answered. "I don't think he can stay away for much longer."

A muted beeping sounded, as if from underneath a lab coat. "Damn," said Abby. "It's the ER, I have to get back." There was a pause. Abby seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Neela, look. Like I said you and Ray have a really good thing going here. I would hate to see you work yourself into such a state that you blow everything out of proportion, and maybe do something that you might regret later."

"Like what?" Neela's tone was light enough, but Emily thought that there might have been a bite in her words.

"I really don't know, Neela. But I'm telling you the truth when I say that I think you two—or you three—are going to be okay." It sounded like she was giving Neela a hug. Update me on her progress, okay? Everyone downstairs is pulling for her, give us a call when she wakes up."

* * *

Bleary-eyed, Ray squinted at the alarm clock next to the bed. With a jolt of panic, he through himself off of the bed and to his feet, cursing both the time and himself. He wasn't sure when exactly he'd dropped off to sleep—he remembered lying on his back, letting the awfulness of the past few days wash over him, like some sinister sheep-counting game—but he had most definitely slept longer than he'd been intending. 

Regretting the extra minutes a shower would eat away, he nevertheless stripped off his clothes and hurriedly padded into the bathroom. Once the shower door had swung closed, he wrenched on the faucet and did the quickest scrub-down he could muster. Pausing only a few seconds when he was finished, he let the hot water rush over him, wishing it could rush away the heaviness and trepidation in his heart as well.

Dripping wet, he emerged, quickly snatching up a forgotten towel that seemed to have slipped off of the rack. Wrapping it around himself, he walked back into his bedroom, knowing that his stock of clean clothing was definitely running low. He found his least-wrinkled pair of jeans, and after seemingly-endless searching, finally extracted a clean t-shirt and pair of boxers from the very back of his closet.

Once dressed, Ray collected all other necessary items—wallet, cell phone, keys, and hospital ID badge—and swiftly left the apartment. True, he had only been away for the two hours that he'd promised Neela, but he knew that they both had understood "two hours" to mean "one hour, tops." Once he'd turned the ignition in the car and rolled out onto the street, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number he knew to be County's ICU.

"This is Dr. Ray Barnett, I'm calling for a status update on my sister, Emily Barnett," he said when the phone was picked up.

"One moment please," said a woman's voice over the line.

Ray said nothing as he came to a stop at a red light.

"Dr. Barnett? This is Dr. Sumra, we met earlier today when I was assigned to your sister's case," another woman's voice said after a moment.

The light turned green. "Hi, Dr. Sumra. How is she? I had to leave for a few hours, but I'm on my way back.

"I'm afraid there's nothing new that I can tell you. Emily's condition hasn't changed, which for now is the only good news that I have."

"Is she alone? Is there anyone in there with her?"

"I saw Dr. Rasgotra sitting with her when I passed her room a little while ago, and I haven't seen her leave, but I have been in with a few patients since."

"I'd really appreciate it if you could tell anyone who's in there with Emily that I'm on my way and should be there in about ten more minutes."

"I'll be happy to do that, doctor," said Dr. Sumra.

"Thank you," said Ray. "Good-bye."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I thought you guys deserved a slightly longer chapter than normal. I'm going to try to finish this by the end of the summer, you have no idea how much it means to me to have some of you still interested in reading my story! 

I would _love_ some reviews (even if they're only to berate me for keeping you waiting for over four months!) to gauge the readers' reactions.

And to my fellow _Potter_ fans, I offer this: wasn't _Deathly Hallows_ simply _masterful_?

See you soon! (I _promise_ this time!)


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

When Ray arrived at the hospital, he parked his car in the doctors' parking lot. He hadn't been on duty since the night that Emily had been brought in, and was using up the last of his vacation and sick days. Rifling through his things, he found his hospital ID and clipped it to the front of his t-shirt. Slamming the car door shut, he walked quickly through the ambulance bay, the most direct route into the hospital.

The waiting area in the ER seemed unusually quiet, as most of the chairs were empty. Ray didn't stop to wonder why a perfectly good weekday evening should be without the typical crush of the usual cranky, feverish toddlers, anxious family members waiting for news, belligerent drunks, and inevitable man pressing a blood-soaked towel to his forehead. Relieved that this most likely meant that most of the staff would be on break, some even asleep on gurneys, and Ray was therefore unlikely to be pestered with questions about Emily, he approached the admit desk.

The desk was manned only by Frank, who was on the phone and gave Ray only a cursory nod as he walked past. It was true that Frank could be an ass, but today Ray thought that Frank would probably understand his not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. Frank said something into the phone and hung it up.

"A lot of people are passed out in the curtain areas, but they said to call down here if you had any news."

"Thanks, Frank. I will, thanks for letting me know," Ray answered, turning around.

"We're all pulling for her, Barnett," Frank said.

"I know."

Ray pressed the button for the elevator and after it seemed to take longer than usual to arrive, Ray contemplated taking the stairs. Deciding that he would risk running into one of his colleagues in the more exposed terrain, he shuffled toward them, taking the stairs at a brisk pace.

When he reached the ICU landing, Ray wasn't too surprised to find that, like in the ER, it was much quieter than normal here too. He tried to shake the creepy feeling it gave him, and forced himself to think only of Emily as he walked down the hallway to her room. He didn't care for the stillness much; he preferred a fast pace, which was why the ER suited him so well.

When he reached Emily's room, Ray wasn't surprised to find Neela still sitting at her bedside. She appeared to have nodded off during her vigil, and was resting her cheek on her fist, with her eyes closed. He moved quietly into the room, not wanting to startle her awake.

He looked over at Emily, still unconscious in the bed. He looked at the monitors by her bedside; all were beeping slowly and steadily, reinforcing his sister's stable condition. Emily looked so peaceful, in any other setting she would have looked like she were fast asleep after a particularly long day.

Ray turned his attention over to Neela again. Not wanting to startle her awake by making any loud noise, he gently touched her shoulder. She stirred slightly, and he moved behind her, softly touching his lips to the top of her head. From his upside-down position, he saw her eyes flutter open, and she looked around to find him.

"Hey," Ray whispered to her.

Neela tried to stifle a huge yawn. "Hi," she said.

"Sorry I didn't get back sooner, I fell asleep too," Ray admitted.

"No, no it's fine, I'm glad you did," Neela said.

"No change?" Ray asked.

"No," said Neela. "Dr. Sumra came in a little while ago, checked a few things and looked at her chart. Said there still wasn't anything else we could do except to wait for her to wake up."

"Yeah," Ray nodded. He'd told families the same thing many times before, but never before this situation could he appreciate just how frustrating it was to hear.

"Listen," he said. "You should probably go on and get out of here, grab a shower or something. Aren't you on tonight?"

"Yeah, I am," Neela admitted. "But I called downstairs, they said it was really slow and, at the moment, they were overstaffed. Abby said she'd page me if they needed me." She failed to stifle another yawn.

"I know, babe, but look at you, you look exhausted. You've been here with her for way too long. Go crash in the lounge or something. Doctor's orders," Ray said with a small smile when Neela looked like she was about to protest.

"I can't thank you enough for staying here with her," Ray said as Neela slowly got to her feet.

"What are you talking about? Don't be silly, Ray," Neela said. "Emily means so much to me, I want her to come through this—and she _will_ come through this," she finished firmly.

"I know," said Ray. "And thanks." He pressed a soft kiss into the corner of her mouth. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

He watched Neela walk out the door as he settled himself into her once-occupied chair. He turned his attention back to his sister, but a moment later he looked back up at the door. Neela was back.

"Ray," she began, coming up behind him the same way he'd come up behind her just moments earlier. "I love you, you know that?" She kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, I love you too," he said. They both seemed to know exactly what the other one meant, and he said, "We'll figure all of this out."

"Okay," she breathed. "I know we will."

This time when he watched Neela walk out, he kept his gaze fixed on the spot long after she'd gone for good. He was lost in thought. _She knows_, he thought to himself. _She knows I've been having doubts, and I think she herself doubts just how important she is to me._ After a few moments, a shrill beeping behind him yanked him back into the present.

He whipped his head around. "Emily?" he asked, as all sorts of alarms began sounding their warning tones. The noise seemed unbearably loud for the still floor, and Ray looked around helplessly as his sister continued to lie peacefully, while all around her the hospital room erupted into mayhem.

Two nurses flooded in, studying the monitors, and not for the first time did Ray feel wholly unqualified as a doctor and a brother.

"What's going on?" he demanded. His voice sounded shaky to him. "What the _hell_ is happening?" he demanded more forcefully. "Someone page Sumra!" No one seemed to pay him any attention as they continued monitoring and checking Emily's blood pressure and respiratory rate. Feeling panicked, Ray shouted, "Hey!" when, just a as suddenly as it all had started, the alarms died down.

One of the nurses turned to Ray as he sank back into his chair, taking one of Emily's hands in his.

"She's okay, Dr. Barnett. It was just a glitch, everything's fine, she's okay," the nurse said to him calmly.

"She—she's fine?" Ray repeated weakly.

"Yes, I'm so sorry that you had to see that. We've been having a few problems in the last week with some of the equipment. I'll send Dr. Sumra is, but I assure you that everything is fine, Dr. Barnett."

The two nurses left, leaving Ray with Emily again.

"Em," Ray whispered. "Em, you need to wake up now. Come on, Emily. Come on, everything's okay Em. Please, for me. Please Emily, you need to wake up now."

"Dr. Barnett?" a voice asked from the doorway. Still gripping Emily's hand, Ray looked up and saw Dr. Sumra.

"Hi," he said.

"Good evening," she answered. "I heard you had a scare in here."

"Yeah, we did," Ray admitted. "The nurse said you've been having problems with faulty equipment. Mind if I ask just how the _hell_ that's possible?" Ray heard the edge in his voice, and knew that it might be possible for him to storm into a full-on rage at any moment now.

"Maintence did some re-wiring earlier this month, and there were a few problems that they haven't fixed yet. All of our back-up generators are fully function," Dr. Sumra answered calmly.

Struggling to keep his temper in check, Ray responded, "And no one had the foresight to imagine the consequences of these _problems_ while families are waiting at the bedsides of their loved ones in the _Intensive Care Unit_?"

"I'm terribly sorry for the incident, Dr. Barnett. We're working to prevent it from happening again. I understand how frustrated you must feel."

Ray didn't say anything, but nodded and turned back to face his sister.

Dr. Sumra continued. "Like I told you on the phone, there's been no change in her condition and this is the third night that she's been here. The other doctors and I feel confident that she will make a full recovery. I know that it isn't very helpful news, but this is still a waiting game."

"Thank you," Ray mumbled, "for everything, thank you."

"My shift ends in twenty minutes, but I've told the staff to page me if there's any change. Meanwhile, I'll see you back here tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Ray nodded. "Good night."

Alone again with his sister, Ray squeezed her hand in his once more. Things looked like they were shaping up to be another long night in the ICU. He settled himself as comfortably as he could manage in the standard hospital-issued chair. His gaze flicked back and forth to Emily's slow, even breathing and the now-steady heart monitors and other machines.

"Emily," he whispered again. "Come on, baby girl."

There was a noise as the alarm made an irregular noise. Ray braced himself for another round of false alarms, but nothing else came. He was studying all of the monitors so intently that he didn't at first register the fluttering eyelashes of the girl lying in the bed.

Emily was awake.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

_"Emily!" _Ray exclaimed in a strangled voice. "Em! You're awake!"

His sister, who so far was only giving him a huge wide-eyed look, blinked slowly. Ray saw her take a deep breath, and begin to open her mouth.

"Shh, you don't need to try and speak yet," he told her softly.

Emily's eyes darted around wildly.

"You're in the hospital, in the Intensive Care Unit," Ray said, answering her unasked question. "You've been here for three nights."

Emily coughed a few times, before choking out in a panicked whisper, "What happened? What happened to me, why am I here?" She saw Ray's eyes contract into what looked like—fear? It scared her.

"You mean, you don't remember?" Ray asked. "Emily, what's the last thing that you _do_ remember?"

"Um..." Emily thought for a moment. "The dance, Lola and I were getting ready for the dance, at the apartment, and then," she trailed off. "And then…it's kind of fuzzy. I can't think of anything else." She stared at her brother. "Ray, what's wrong? What happened, why can't I remember?"

"Shh," Ray said again. "Just take a deep breath and calm down."

"_Ray, what am I doing in the hospital?"_

"You were brought into the ER unconscious, you were in an ambulance. Em, you've been in a coma, and we're not sure what happened, we think you might have been attacked…we were hoping that you'd be able to tell us yourself."

"I was _attacked_? But what's wrong with me, I can't remember anything!"

"Sometimes when someone suffers a trauma, they block out things that happened during it or right before. It doesn't necessarily mean that something's permanently wrong, Em. We'll call a doctor in, and have you examined," he gave her a meaningful look. "You _will_ be okay, Emily. Sweetie, you're going to be fine."

He smiled reassuringly and pressed the call button beside her bed a few times. "I'm just so glad you're awake."

A few minutes later, one of the ICU nurses that Ray recognized came into the room.

"Could you please get the on-call doctor in here, and page Dr. Sumra? Tell her that Emily Barnett's awake," he squeezed Emily's hand.

The nurse nodded and left.

Meanwhile, Emily was looking around the room curiously. "Three nights?" she murmured. She paused. "I think," she said slowly, before correcting herself, "I _know_ that I heard voices—Neela's and Abby's. I could hear—things—and I thought—other things. It was weird," she said. She looked up at her brother, who was watching her carefully. "At first I thought I was dead," she confessed, and she felt Ray's hand tighten against her own. "But then I think I realized that I couldn't be, but I still wasn't sure that I knew where I was.

"Ray," she asked, "How could I have a small idea about what was going on, and not know how I got there?" The fear that she had been trying to keep at bay crept into her voice. She felt herself begin to panic.

"Em, I promise you, we _will_ get to the bottom of this." He gave her another meaningful look. "And when have I ever broken a promise?" he said with a half-challenging, half-teasing look.

Emily paused. "When Brandon took me on our first date. You promised that you wouldn't spy on us, but I _know_ it was you behind us in the movie theater." She stared at him, raising her eyebrows. "There."

Ray blinked. "Well—that," he stammered, "Em, that was—that was just _different_, okay? Brotherly love and protection comes before some things, got it? So really, with that loophole, I didn't _actually_ do anything wrong, you know…" he trailed off. "What?"

Emily's eyes had suddenly gone wide again. Ray was alarmed to see that she looked plainly terrified. "Brandon," she whispered. "He was at the dance."

"He was?" Ray demanded sharply. "Did he talk to you? Did _he_ do this to you?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "I can't remember."

A brief knock at the door made them both look up.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Randall," introduced the man standing in the doorway. He crossed the room and picked Emily's chart off from the foot of her bed. "Welcome back, young lady," he said. Emily glanced at Ray.

"Are you the on-call physician?" Ray asked.

Randall nodded. "I'm an intern."

"Has Dr. Sumra been paged?"

"Yes, we haven't been able to get in touch with her yet. So Emily," Dr. Randall began, "How are you feeling? Any pain?"

Emily shook her head. "Not really, no. But I can't remember what happened before I was brought in."

Randall looked up from the note he'd been making on Emily's chart. "Nothing?" he asked.

"No, I woke up and had no idea how I got here."

"Temporary memory loss is common with certain types of head trauma. We'll order you at another head CT and see if you've had any brain swelling since you've been here." He nodded, but Emily looked stricken. Ray noticed this and squeezed her hand again.

"I'll be right back, I just need to get a few things." Randall left the room.

"Ray, I'm scared."

"I know you are, Em," Ray soothed. "We'll get through this, it'll be okay."

Quieter this time, Emily whispered, "I don't like Dr. Randall."

"No," Ray agreed, "But Dr. Sumra will be here soon, and she's very good."

"Okay," Emily said in a small voice.

"You've been so brave, Emily, I mean it," Ray said.

Emily changed the subject, "What about Neela and Abby? I was right, wasn't I? Were they here?"

"Yeah, I know that Neela sat with you for a couple of hours while I went home. She's been waiting for me to call her and tell her that you've woken up."

"There's a phone here," Emily gestured. "See? I'm much more supportive of your dating relationships than you are of mine!" she teased. "In fact, just to prove it, why don't you go and use the phone out in the hall—away from your _pesky, eavesdropping little sister!_"

Ray laughed, "I'd smack you, but I know you'd just cry 'Coma!' on me. I'll be right back."

A few moments after Ray had left, Dr. Randall returned. Emily was not pleased to see that he had a needle and several vials with him.

"What's this?" she asked wearily.

"Blood test," he replied, pressing the button on Emily's bed to raise her head and pulling up a stool and a rolling tray for himself.

Emily started to squirm. "Can't it wait until my brother gets back?" she asked. There was something she didn't like about this doctor; she didn't know what it was, but she wasn't eager to have him stick a needle in her arm while she was all alone.

"I need to have this sample drawn before I can book a CT for you. Come on, it won't be that bad," Randall replied, reaching for her arm.

"No," Emily said, slightly surprised by her own daring. "I'm not giving you my arm." She knew that she was being irrational, and that she didn't have a choice in the matter, but in the short time that she'd awoken from her coma, she seemed to have adopted a very keen sense of self-preservation.

Randall laughed, thinking Emily was joking. "Fine then," he said, "You don't need to give me your arm—I'll take it."

"Um…" Emily mumbled, feeling cornered and seeing no way out but to make what she was sure would be a very embarrassing scene. _Where was Ray_? Her mind flashed briefly on Neela, and how much easier she had made a blood test back when Emily had had mono.

"What's up?" Ray asked, coming back into the room.

"I need to do a blood draw on your sister, and she's not being cooperative," Randall explained, gritting his teeth slightly.

"Hey man, chill out," Ray said easily. "Emily?" he asked, letting her name hang like a question.

She looked at him and shrugged.

"This is ridiculous," Randall said, looking back and forth between them. "Neither one of you seem to understand that I _need_ this sample, and I need it _now_." Loudly, he added, "Dr. Barnett, if you can't get this patient under control, I'll have to call in a nurse."

"That won't be necessary," Ray said. Randall looked relieved. "I'll do the blood test."

Both Randall and Emily looked surprised and spoke at the same time.

"Dr. Barnett, I don't know whether that's a wise idea."

"Ray, forget it, it's okay, I overreacted."

Ray didn't answer, just snapped on a pair of gloves from the box on the wall and sat down on the stool. He addressed them each in turn, "Dr. Randall, I'm an Emergency Medicine resident, I assure you that I'm well-qualified to do the blood draw. If you'll just give us a few minutes, I'll have your sample. Three vials?" he questioned, nodding to those on the tray in front of him. Randall nodded, and left the room.

"Okay, Em," Ray said. "Sorry, I know this sucks, but like I said, you've been so brave, and right now I just need you to do this one thing for me." He waited for her arm, which she reluctantly held out. "Oh, and by the way," he added, tying a tourniquet around her arm, "I'm _good_."

Doing her best to remain outwardly calm, Emily was flipping out inside as she felt a cold alcohol pad scrubbed on the crook of her arm. "Yeah, right," she managed to crack.

"What, you don't believe me?" Ray asked, mocking a wounded voice as he threw used pad back onto the tray.

"No, no, I'm sure you're fine," Emily said through clenched teeth, preparing for the worst. "'Good,' on the other hand—you're sure it's not just because all your female patients are trying to impress the 'Rock Doc'?"

"I never thought of that," Ray said, surreptitiously sliding the needle in. "You think?" he asked, with a hint of a smile, knowing that he'd achieved his goal.

"Yeah, and I've got news for you, that's not going to work on me. I'm sorry, but I fully intend to yell my head off if you hurt me—" she trailed off, realizing that Ray had already filled the first of three vials with her blood.

"'Just fine,' huh?" Ray asked, unable to hide his grin. Emily made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. "Okay, you want the real secret? _Talking_. Preferably about a subject that gets the patient a little riled up. Like, for example, my superior skills." The second vial was almost filled.

"Excuse me, your _what_ skills?"

"Superior. Hate to break it to you, Em, but you've got a ridiculously competitive streak. Always have."

"Well, that's just ridiculous in this case, because I don't know _how_ to draw blood. Therefore this isn't something we can _compete_ in!"

"Sure, you could argue that. Or else you could just give your poor brother the satisfaction of winning, just this once," Ray said smugly.

Emily considered this for a moment. "Never," she said, with a grin.

"Ah, well. Took a shot." All vials now adequately filled, Ray expertly drew the needle out, and quickly affixed a cotton ball and band-aid. "There, not so bad, huh?" Emily shrugged.

"Ray," Emily began once he had cleaned everything up. "I'm sorry about that, really. I didn't mean to make such a fuss, you didn't need to--"

"No, I did," he said. "Remember what I said about 'brotherly love and protection'? It's _not_ just about staking out movie theaters."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

One hour after Ray had drawn Emily's labs, Dr. Sumra delivered the results to her room.

"Hello Emily, I'm Dr. Sumra. I've been your primary doctor while you've been up here in the ICU. It's nice to have you back with us."

"Hi," Emily returned the greeting somewhat quietly. Sumra noticed this.

"I hear there was a bit of an incident with one of our residents. Allow me to apologize for that."

"It's okay," Emily mumbled. Beside her, Ray shifted in his seat.

"I'm glad I have you both in here," Sumra continued. "I have the results of your latest blood draw. All of your levels are within their normal ranges, which is encouraging news."

"Then why can't I remember what happened before I went into the coma?" asked Emily.

"It's difficult to say at this point. I've scheduled you for a CT scan, which may provide us with some answers. It's entirely possible that you haven't had any brain damage at all, and that this is a purely psychological reaction. If that is the case, memories of the incident could return to you in flashbacks. Like I said, there isn't much that we can know until your CT."

"When will that be?" Ray asked.

"Radiology is expecting you at eight o'clock this morning. In the meantime, Emily, I will suggest that you spend the next few hours resting."

"What, do I look like I could use some more sleep?" Emily joked.

Dr. Sumra smiled. "I'll see you later this afternoon to go over your CT results."

Once Sumra left, Ray turned to Emily. "What do you think?" he asked, indicating her pillow and blankets.

"Seriously? After all those nights you stood at my unconscious side, you actually want me to go back to sleep?"

"Only because I have a pretty good idea that you'll wake up this time around," Ray teased.

"Wow, I bet you'd regret saying that if I actually didn't." Emily teased back. "On second thought, I have a feeling that coma jokes aren't exactly prime karma material—especially in a hospital."

Ray laughed. "You're probably right. Look, why don't you just give that whole "resting" thing a try."

Emily appeared to consider this for a moment. "Promise you won't go anywhere?" It came out softer than she had intended it to.

"Promise."

They sat in silence for a few moments, but Ray had the distinct impression that Emily wasn't trying to drift off to sleep. Then—

"Ray?"

"That's not a drowsy tone of voice, young lady."

Emily chose to ignore this. "Ray, remember when I said I thought I heard Neela and Abby talking?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about what I heard."

"What was that?" his words sounded easy enough, but Emily had a feeling that she had her brother's complete, uneasy attention.

"I think that maybe you should talk to Neela. I was pretty out of it—you know, coma and all—but she sounded upset. And it sounded like Abby was trying to comfort her, or reassure her. Like—she was worried about your relationship."

"Emily, you know that you have nothing to worry about here."

"I'm not talking about _me._ I'm talking about _Neela_," Emily said impatiently.

"I know that. Look, Em, what I'm trying to say is that you're my number one priority. I care about Neela a lot. I love her. But like I said, you're my priority right now," Ray finished.

Emily was quiet for a moment.

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"What do you mean?" Ray asked, sounding irritated.

"I mean what's this 'you love her, but I'm the priority, you care about her, but I'm not the one who should be worried.' What are you _saying_ Ray, should _Neela_ be worried?"

"Look, Emily, I don't know what you want me to say! Damn it, I've just been through some of the worst days of my life, worse even than when Mom died and I had to figure out what to do with you—"

"_What to do_ with me?"

"For God's sake, can't you just give me a break for once? I've put so much on hold these past few years, and how do you think I feel right now, when for the first time I've had something good happen to me, and suddenly _this_ happens to you?"

"I don't _know_ how you feel, because you seem to keep all of this to yourself all the damn time!"

"Is there a problem here?" an ICU nurse stuck her head in the door. Both Ray's and Emily's heads snapped up.

"No, we're fine, I'm sorry we got a little carried away," Ray attempted to smooth things over.

"Dr. Barnett, it's barely four o'clock in the morning. We have patients trying to sleep," the nurse replied.

"I'm very sorry, it won't happen again."

When the nurse left, Ray turned back to Emily, startled to see that she was crying.

"Emily, look, I'm sorry." He tried to pat her arm, but she jerked it out of the way. "Hey," he said desperately. "Come on."

Through her tears, Emily choked out, "Well that's just it then, isn't it? You talk about these feelings of guilt because when you finally get to have a normal life I manage to screw things up for you. Don't you think _I_ haven't felt guilty all this time too, because I see the things I've had to put you through?

"I'm not an idiot, Ray. I know about the kind of life you led before I came to live with you, and how different things are now. How do you think I've felt, knowing that it's because of me that you can't live your life the way you want to anymore? Don't you get it? If you break up with Neela, it means that I've finally done it: I've actually ruined the best thing you and I both know you've ever had going for you!"

Ray sat back in his chair, stunned. "Em, I never knew you felt that way," he said softly.

"Yeah, well, join the club," Emily gave a watery laugh.

"Look, Em. All that I meant to say was that these past few days have been some of the worst in my life, and maybe what I don't need right now is to be ambushed with questions about my relationship when I'm just barely recovering from having the rug pulled out from under me. I'm sorry, babe, I know you don't mean any harm, but this is the last thing that I need right now."

"I'm sorry, too," Emily said quietly. "But it's like I said, too. I don't want to make you feel like I've somehow ruined your life."

"Emily, listen to me. I could _never_ think that. Yes, this isn't how I imagined you'd grow up, or how I would spend these years, but Emily, you have to know that I've never _once_ regretted my decision. I love you so much, you're my little sister, and we're family. Got it?" When he reached for her arm this time, she didn't move it out of the way.

"Got it," she whispered. "Only can you do one thing?"

"What's that?"

"Please, _talk to Neela_. Don't let her beat herself up and wonder about this any more. Please, tell her it's not over."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'd like to apologize for the delay in updating this story. If you read the note in my profile, you know that I moved across the country and subsequently have had very little time to write.

This story has ended up on a very different track than what I originally intended for it. (It's beyond bizarre to know that it's been more than two years!) I'm finally getting around to addressing some issues that I think have needed attending to for some time now. There is definitely an end in sight, it's just taking a lot longer to get there than I thought it would.

I don't want to give approximations, either in terms of my next update or how many chapters are left. I want to thank everyone for sticking with me—I hope that I've proven that I'm reliable in terms of not simply leaving a story hanging indefinitely. Meanwhile, this story has gotten a record number of update alerts for me, and, as always, I look forward to hearing from readers!


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